Police fired stun grenades and tear gas to disperse supporters of far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro after they tried to invade the federal police headquarters in the capital, Brasilia.
Buses and cars were set on fire as crowds, many wearing their yellow national soccer jerseys or draped in Brazilian flags, clashed with security forces.
It started after a Bolsonaro supporter was arrested for allegedly organizing violent “undemocratic acts,” according to the judge who ordered his arrest.
A police officer fires a shotgun near protesters
Earlier on Monday, the federal electoral court (TSE) certified the October 30 electoral victory of Bolsonaro’s leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as president.
After months of unsubstantiated suggestions that Brazil’s voting system is vulnerable to fraud, Bolsonaro failed to concede Lula’s defeat or formally block the transfer of power.
Bolsonaro lost the October 30 elections.
But some of the president’s staunchest supporters blocked roads in protest and camped out in front of the army.
barracks, calling for a military coup to prevent Lula from taking office.
Hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters gathered in front of the presidential residence on Monday afternoon with banners calling for
for “military intervention”.
The president joined them for a public prayer, but did not address the crowd.
“There is not going to be an inauguration,” José Trindade, 58, one of Bolsonaro’s supporters, said in the crowd.
“Bolsonaro was re-elected, but he was stolen. So only the Army can put things in order.”
Conspiracy theories and subsequent violence have revived memories of the US invasion of January 2021.
Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
It also raises security concerns about January 1, when Lula will take office in a public ceremony in Brasilia.
Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, a key Lula aide, said there were concerns about the physical safety of Mr. Lula and Vice.
President-elect Geraldo Alckmin, as protesters surrounded the hotel where he is staying in Brasilia.
Lula’s team denied reports that they would take him out of the hotel by helicopter.
