Brazil charges dozens in pro-Bolsonaro riot; more expected

Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who were arrested after public buildings were stormed and vandalized are bused to a federal prison on Jan. 11.

(Gustavo Moreno / Associated Press)

The office of Brazils prosecutor-general has presented its first charges against some of the hundreds of people whoauthorities say stormedgovernment buildings in an effort to overturn former President Jair Bolsonaros loss in the October election.

The prosecutors in the recently formed group to combat anti-democratic acts also have requested that the 39 defendants charged in the ransacking of Congress be imprisoned as a preventive measure and that $7.7 million of their assets be frozen to help cover the damage.

The defendants have been charged with armed criminal association, violent attempt to subvert the democratic state of law, staging a coup and damage to public property, the prosecutor generals office said in a written statement Monday night. Their identities have not yet been released.

More than a thousand people were arrested on the day of the Jan. 8 riot, which bore strong similarities to theJan. 6, 2021, insurrectionat the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump supporters who tried to overturn the then-presidents election loss.

Rioters who stormed through the Brazilian Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Federal Court in the capital, Brasilia, sought to have the armed forces intervene and overturn Bolsonaros loss to President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva.

The rioters attempted, with the use of violence and serious threat, to abolish the democratic rule of law, preventing or restricting the exercise of constitutional powers, according to an excerpt of charges included in a statement. The ultimate objective of the attack ... was the installation of an alternative government regime.

The attackers were not charged with terrorism because under Brazilian law such a charge must involve xenophobia or prejudice based on race, ethnicity or religion.

The prosecutor-generals office sent its charges to the Supreme Federal Court after the Senates president, Rodrigo Pacheco, last week provided a list of people accused of rampaging through Congress. Additional rioters are expected to be charged.

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