Marcelo Aith: Invasion in Brasilia: chronicle of an announced death

Two years after the invasion of the Capitol in the United States by supporters of former President Donald Trump, Brasilia is witnessing barbarism commanded by wild Bolsonarists. They managed to invade, without much effort, the National Congress, the Planalto Palace (the president’s workplace) and the Federal Supreme Court.

The vandals broke public property and vilified the Democratic State of Law under the beard of the police force of the Brazilian capital. It should not be forgotten that the command of the police forces in Brasilia is with former Minister of Justice Anderson Torres. These forces were monitoring the movements of the vandals, but were not “capable” of containing the invasions. Shameful conduct by the governor of the Federal District and the secretary of security, who were flagrantly lenient in combating criminal acts. It was a chronicle of an announced death.

Governor Ibaneis Rocha and Security Secretary Anderson Torres must be held accountable for deliberate blindness. The Theory of Deliberate Blindness is a jurisprudential construction originated in Anglo-Saxon Law that advocates the possibility of punishing the individual who deliberately remains in a state of ignorance regarding the illicit nature of his acts. They knew about the intention of the scammers and turned a blind eye. The Public Prosecutor’s Office must take steps to investigate the facts and, if deliberate negligence is demonstrated, denounce them for the crimes committed. In addition, the situation demands intervention measures in public security in Brasilia, as occurred in Rio de Janeiro in 2018.

Well then, returning to the crime scene, the police forces of Brasília have the obligation to immediately restore public order and arrest all invaders in flagrante for the crime of “violent abolition of the Democratic State of Law” and “coup d’état”, foreseen , respectively, in articles 359-L and 359-M, both of the Penal Code, which provides: “Trying, with the use of violence or serious threat, to abolish the Democratic State of Law, preventing or restricting the exercise of constitutional powers” and “Attempting to depose, by means of violence or serious threat, the legitimately constituted government”.

Democracy is the system of government whose source of power comes from the people. In a democratic government, all citizens have the same status and are guaranteed the right to political participation. However, they must respect the constitutional and legal commands, not being authorized, under any pretext, the use of force against public institutions.

The investigation into these acts must be exhaustive and all those involved severely punished, either for the action, or for the omission (state negligence), or even for the incitement. Former President Bolsonaro and the leadership of his government must be investigated and, once the responsibility for the instigation has been established, severely punished.

I hope there isn’t a greater tragedy like what happened in the Capitol, with the deaths of invaders, security agents and civilians.