Brazil: Bomber Dies in Alleged Attack on Supreme Court

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Facts

  • A man apparently killed himself on Brazil's Three Powers Plaza, a square connecting key government buildings in Brasília, on Wednesday in what authorities have called an attempted bombing attack on the country's top court.[1][2]
  • He was identified as Francisco Wanderley Luiz, who unsuccessfully ran for city council in 2020 as a candidate for the Liberal Party, which former Pres. Jair Bolsonaro — who condemned the attack on social media — joined a year later.[3][4][5][6]
  • This comes as two blasts were heard at the scene around 7:30 pm (local time). The first took place in a parking lot near the Supreme Court and the Chamber of Deputies, and the latter in the Three Powers Plaza.[7][5]
  • On Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes claimed the suspect wanted to get into the top court and blow up the building, adding that political pacification 'is only possible with the accountability of all criminals.'[8][6]
  • Nearly two years ago, the Three Powers Plaza was the scene of significant unrest on Jan. 8, 2023, when supporters of Bolsonaro stormed key government buildings days after Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office.[9][1]
  • This incident has raised security concerns as Brazil is set to host the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week, with US Pres. Joe Biden and Chinese Pres. Xi Jinping scheduled to also visit the Amazon rainforest and Brasília, respectively.[9][10]

Sources: [1]BBC News, [2]Guardian, [3]ABC News, [4]The Brazilian Report, [5]New York Times, [6]Associated Press, [7]Folha de S.Paulo, [8]Reuters, [9]FOX News and [10]CNN.

Narratives

  • Left narrative, as provided by Brasil de Fato. Another day, another right-wing terrorist attack against democratic institutions in Brazil. It's long past time to realize that political pacification can only thrive with zero tolerance for extremists trying to tear down democracy — including those involved in the coup acts of Jan. 8, 2023.
  • Right narrative, as provided by The Gateway Pundit. This incident targeting the Supreme Court was most likely a lone-wolf attack carried out by an individual with no clear connections to the right wing. And unsurprisingly, Justice Alexandre de Moraes has already weaponized it against Bolsonaro and his supporters.

Predictions