Brazil investigates alleged attempted attack on Supreme Court

Brazilian authorities are trying Thursday to understand the motive of the perpetrator of an alleged attack on the Supreme Court in Brasilia, who was found dead after explosions just days before a G20 summit.

The man carrying explosives died Wednesday evening in Brasilia after trying in vain to enter the Supreme Court building.

This alleged attempted attack targeting a major institution of Brazilian democracy brings back memories of the far-right riots against the seats of the executive, legislative and judicial branches on the same square in the capital in January 2023.

It also comes in a particularly strong context: left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is hosting a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week and a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Brasilia.

“First there was an explosion (of a) car,” then an “individual approached the Federal Supreme Court, tried to enter, failed and the explosion occurred in front of the door,” Brasilia's vice-governor, Celina Leao, told the press.

According to preliminary information, it was a “suicide,” the official continued, suggesting the possibility of “a lone wolf.”

According to a police document published by the GloboNews channel, the man's name was Francisco Wanderley Luiz and he was also the owner of the car. In local elections in 2020, he was a candidate for the post of municipal councilor under the colors of the Liberal Party of Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right president then in power.

“I condemn with the greatest vehemence the attacks against the Supreme Court (STF) and the Chamber of Deputies. I express my solidarity with the ministers and parliamentarians,” Attorney General Jorge Messias reacted overnight on X, promising that the federal police will investigate “with rigor and speed” to “understand the motivations” of the attack.

The Supreme Court is located in the Plaza de las Tres Pobiers, where it faces the presidential palace and the Parliament. Lula was not at the presidential palace at the time of the explosions, according to the presidency.

– Car on fire –

At the scene of the explosions, investigators proceeded with caution, because the body was surrounded by explosives equipped with a timer.

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The two detonations occurred within a short period of time, around 7:30 p.m. (10:30 p.m. GMT), and did not cause any injuries.

Police officers on patrol spotted the burning vehicle and saw the man rush out, military police Sergeant Santos said. “There is some kind of bomb in the car, several explosives connected by bricks, but it did not catch fire completely.”

The Supreme Court had previously said that at the end of a session, “two loud explosions were heard” and judges and staff on site were evacuated “as a precaution.”

Laiana Costa, an official at the Union Court of Auditors, another official body, told local media that she saw a “man passing by”: “All of a sudden I heard a noise, I looked behind, there was fire and smoke.”

The body of a man killed by an explosion in front of the Supreme Court of Brazil in Brasilia, November 13, 2024 © AFP – Sergio LIMA

On January 8, 2023, a week after Lula returned to power, thousands of supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, defeated in the presidential election at the end of 2022, stormed and ransacked the headquarters of institutions on the Three Powers Square.

Alexandre de Moraes, a powerful Supreme Court judge, is leading the investigation into this alleged coup attempt, the spectacle of which recalled the storming of the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters on January 6, 2021 in the United States.

A damaged car is photographed at the site of an explosion near an annex of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, on November 13, 2024 in Brasilia © AFP – Sergio Lima

“There are madmen everywhere and from all political persuasions,” reacted Fabio Wajngarten, advisor to Mr. Bolsonaro, on X on Wednesday evening, after the alleged identity of the attacker was revealed. “Making generalizations and amalgams is sordidness and persecution.”

Lula will host a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday and Tuesday, bringing together most of the leaders of the world's major economies.

On Wednesday, he is due to receive the Chinese president in Brasilia on a state visit.

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