Brazilian police carried out dozens of raids Thursday targeting suspects accused of orchestrating an invasion of the seat of power last year, including far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, whose lawyer confirmed he would surrender his passport.
Federal police said they were carrying out numerous search and seizure operations and executing four arrest warrants in an effort to target a “criminal organization involved in the attempted coup” — a reference to Bolsonaro supporters’ invasion of the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court on January 8, 2023.
The raids were authorized by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who also ordered that multiple suspects be suspended from public duties and surrender their passports within 24 hours.
That included Bolsonaro, whose lawyer and adviser Fabio Wajngarten confirmed in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that the former leader would comply with the order.
Four army generals were also targeted in the raids, including Bolsonaro’s former defense minister and vice presidential candidate Walter Braga Netto and one of the ex-president’s closest advisers, Augusto Heleno.
The riots came one week after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration following a narrow election win in October 2022 over Bolsonaro, who served as president from 2019 to 2022.
Tens of thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the halls of power, trashing the premises and calling for the military to oust veteran leftist Lula, alleging, without evidence, that the election was stolen.
