One week before the second round of the presidential election, former parliamentarian Roberto Jefferson, ally of President Jair Bolsonaro and sentenced for fake newsshot at police officers who came to arrest him, injuring two slightly.
Twenty rifle shots and three grenades. This is how the former deputy and former president of the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), Roberto Jefferson, welcomed the police responsible for sending him to prison, says our correspondent in São Paulo, Martin Bernard. The two affected people received medical attention and are in good health, according to the federal police. The man finally surrendered in the early evening, after eight hours of tension in the town of Comendador Levy Gasparian, about a hundred kilometers from Rio de Janeiro.
Roberto Jefferson had been under house arrest since the beginning of the year for dissemination of fake news and for his membership in digital militias that work in the service of President Bolsonaro. The former parliamentarian was facing a prison sentence from the Federal Supreme Court (STF) for violating the conditions of his house arrest, after attacking on social networks Carmen Lúcia, a magistrate of the most high court. He called the STF member “ witch ” and of “ prostitute “.
Jair Bolsonaro distances himself
Jair Bolsonaro officially condemned his ally’s conduct: ” Anyone who shoots a police officer should be treated as a bandit. I express my solidarity with the injured police officers in this episode “. The Brazilian president also insisted that he had no connection with Roberto Jefferson, who said in 2020 that the president was his “ intimate friend “. The leader also denied appearing in photos alongside the ex-MP, but several outlets showed images of the two together when the former army captain came to power in 2019.
– Repudio as falas do Sr. Roberto Jefferson contra a Ministra Carmen Lúcia e sua ação armada contra agentes da PF, bem como a existentência de inquéritos sem nenhum respaldo na Constituição e sem a atuação do MP.
— Jair M. Bolsonaro 2️⃣2️⃣ (@jairbolsonaro) October 23, 2022
According to the current president’s presidential rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Lula, Roberto Jefferson’s attitude illustrates the hateful reaction from part of society, provoked by Jair Bolsonaro himself. “ The offenses committed against Carmen Lúcia cannot be accepted by anyone who respects democracy. A form of violence has been created in society. A machine for destroying democratic values. This generates behaviors like the one we saw today “wrote the candidate of the Workers’ Party (PT) and former president on Twitter, also expressing his solidarity with the injured.
As ofensas contra a Cármen Lúcia não podem ser aceitas por ninguém que respeita a democracia. Criaram na sociedade uma becausela violenta. A machine for the destruction of democratic values. Isso gera o behavior como o que vimos hoje.
— Lula 13 (@LulaOficial) October 23, 2022
Roberto Jefferson is now behind bars, but the incident will further increase political tension, a few days before a second round which promises to be very tight.
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