Brazil: Bolsonaro's Justice Minister Arrested Over Riots

Facts

• Brazil's former justice and public security chief in the Jair Bolsonaro administration, Anderson Torres, was arrested on Saturday. This comes upon his return to the country following an arrest warrant issued by Justice Alexandre de Moraes last Tuesday.
• Torres, who was in charge of security for the capital city Brasília when demonstrators stormed major government buildings on Jan. 8, is accused of having colluded with protesters, and failed to act in his role as security chief.
• He was fired from his position by Brasília Gov. Ibaneis Rocha shortly after the storming took place, but he has denied any involvement in the riots, stating that he has always acted ethically and legally.
• Torres had taken office as the federal district's security chief on Jan. 2 — quickly replacing much of his department's senior staff and reportedly producing a plan to stop protesters before heading to Florida on Jan. 7 for the start of a two-week vacation.
• He is among other top public officials whose arrest has been ordered by judicial authorities in the wake of the Jan. 8 events, while the Supreme Court agreed on Friday to include former Pres. Bolsonaro in its probe into the "instigation and intellectual authorship" of the storming.
• Investigators have recently found in Torres' home a draft decree declaring a "state of defense" to disallow the electoral court and overturn Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's election victory. While the former justice minister has not challenged its authenticity, he claimed it was intended to be thrown in a trash bin.

Sources: Al Jazeera, New York Post, Axios, New York Times, BBC News, and Washington Post.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. Though unquestionably inspired by the US Capitol attack on Jan. 6, the pro-Bolsonaro insurrection in Brasília was much more dangerous than its American parallel as security forces were permissive and even supportive of the anti-democratic actions. The Armed Forces have long turned a blind eye to people camping around their barracks to demand a coup, and their plans of invading Brazil's Congress were publicly known.
• Right narrative, as provided by Gateway Pundit. The hypocrisy of Brazil's establishment is blatant and outrageous as federal district officials are being arrested for their alleged omissions that led to riots while Justice Minister Flávio Dino and President Lula also knew about the attack — likely caused by infiltrators — in advance and did nothing to impede it. Additionally, Justice de Moraes stated that democratic people who peacefully protested for months were "terrorists" without trial.