Posts take Freixo’s call to former head of the Civil Police after Marielle’s death out of context

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Investigated content: Post displays headline from a website that says: “Freixo called one of those involved in the murder of councilor Marielle Franco on the night of the crime”. The post states: “now the broth is going to spill once and for all”.

Where was it published:X and website.

Contextualizing: After the arrest of three suspects involved in the deaths of Marielle Franco and Anderson Gomes this week, the president of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo, https://twitter.com/MarceloFreixo/status/1771854981550748100 moments after the crimes that occurred in 2018. Contrary to what posts on social media imply, Freixo did not confess to having anything to do with the murders. In fact, he said he called the former head of the Civil Police to inform him about the deaths.

Barbosa was one of three arrested on Sunday, the 24th, on suspicion of participation in the murders, along with the brothers Domingos and Chiquinho Brazão, respectively counselor at the Court of Auditors of the State of Rio (TCE) and federal deputy for União Brasil (RJ).

“It was Rivaldo Barbosa that I called when I found out about the murder of Marielle and Anderson and was heading to the scene of the crime. He was head of the Civil Police and received the families the next day with me. Now Rivaldo is in prison for having acted to protect those who ordered the crime, preventing the investigations from progressing. This says a lot about Rio de Janeiro”, wrote Freixo on the social network X (Twitter).

On the same day, in an interview with CBN, Freixo repeated that, in addition to making the call, he received Marielle’s family together with Barbosa the day after the attack. “On the one hand, we are relieved to have reached this case, on the other hand, there is a very deep indignation for everything it represents,” he said.

He also said that, in five years of investigation (out of six), the delegates who dealt with the case at the Homicide Police Station were replaced when they approached a conclusion. “In five years, five delegates. So I wasn’t supposed to investigate. The conclusion is that today we are able to find out who killed, who ordered the killing and who didn’t allow the investigation,” he said, referring to the Brazão brothers and the police chief.

Last Monday, the 25th, in an interview with Rádio Gaúcha, Freixo also commented on Rivaldo Barbosa’s alleged involvement in Marielle’s murder. According to him, “it is humanly frightening to imagine that he [Barbosa] could be behind the planning of the death and not just the protection of not investigating.”

The former deputy also explained that the delegate participated in meetings at the Human Rights Commission, when he was leader of the Homicide Department, and forwarded cases and met with families. At the time, Freixo chaired the commission and Marielle coordinated it. “As head of the Civil Police, he is the first person to be notified of Marielle’s death. He had to be the first,” he said.

Repercussion of Freixo’s speech

After the former federal deputy’s post, the Terra Brasil Notícias website published a text with the following title: “BOMB: Freixo called one of those involved in the murder of former councilor Marielle Franco on the night of the crime”. Despite mentioning, throughout the text, that Freixo called Rivaldo Barbosa to report the murder, the information was hidden in the title. The text also describes that the current president of Embratur had “a certain degree of proximity” and “connections” with Rivaldo.

The content suggests that Marielle and her political companions had some relationship with those who ordered the crime and criticizes the accusations made against “characters on the political right”.

A post on X, whose author republished the title of the Terra Brasil Notícias website, was interpreted as an alleged confession of Freixo’s involvement in the case. The post that went viral does not provide the link so that other readers can check the complete information. The publication is accompanied by the caption “now the broth is going to spill once and for all”.

In the comments, people interpret that the president of Embratur confessed to being involved in the crime: “I always suspected this guy, her friend, right? I know.”, “I always distrusted him, for me he was very involved”, “I said it was this idiot’s doing”, “Little by little the truth is coming out”, they say.

President of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo was chosen for the position by President Lula’s government. In May 2023, he joined the PT after months as a member of the PSB, the party in which he ran for governor of Rio de Janeiro. Previously, Freixo was a member of PSOL for 16 years, the party in which he was elected state deputy in 2005 and 2014.

As a parliamentarian, he assumed the presidency of the Militia Commission of Inquiry in 2008, which investigated the involvement of politicians with militia groups in Rio. At the time, he left the country after receiving death threats. Freixo’s brother, Renato, had been murdered by militiamen in July 2006.

For three terms, Freixo also chaired the Commission for the Defense of Human Rights and Citizenship of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj), in which Marielle Franco was coordinator and provided legal and psychological assistance to family members of homicide victims or victimized police officers. . In the 2018 elections, he was elected federal deputy of Rio de Janeiro for PSOL.

Delegate Rivaldo Barbosa had been sworn in as head of the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro on March 13, 2018, one day before the murder of Marielle Franco and Anderson Gomes. At the time of the crime, state security was under federal intervention, with General Walter Braga Netto at its head. He would later be Minister of Defense and the Civil House in the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). Rivaldo’s appointment to the position had been made by General Richard Nunes, then Secretary of Public Security.

Barbosa left the head of the Civil Police in January 2019, after the inauguration of then-governor Wilson Witzel. Graduated in Law and university professor for over 20 years, he also held the positions of head of the Capital Homicide Police Station (DHC) and director of the Homicide Division. Recently, he commanded the Communications and Police Operations Coordination, which takes care of the corporation’s radio operations.

Rivaldo was preventively arrested by the Federal Police last Sunday, the 24th, as he was suspected of using his position to protect the brothers Domingos and Chiquinho Brazão – accused of being the masterminds of the crime – and participating in the planning of the murder. Marielle’s mother, Marinete da Silva, told Globo News that the police chief was the one who received the family members after the murder and that he had promised that solving the case would be a “matter of honor”.

How content can be interpreted outside of its original context: The statement that Marcelo Freixo came into contact with one of those involved in the murder on the night of the incident suggests the former deputy’s relationship with the crime. This is because the title omits the information that the deputy reported that the call occurred after the deaths of Marielle and Anderson and that Rivaldo was head of the Civil Police and, therefore, in charge of the investigation. The word “BOMB” is also used at the beginning of the headline in order to draw readers’ attention and suggest that the information was a scoop about the case.

What the person responsible for publishing says: Terra Brasil Notícias, contacted by email, stated that the vehicle only “retracted the information released by various sources” and that the title of the article is “perfectly clear, and shows the level of perplexity that society and even the ex -deputy had to learn that the person he called on the night of the crime to take appropriate action was probably one of the masterminds of the crime.” The portal, which has already had content classified as false or misleading by Comprova, also stated that the text does not make any insinuations about Freixo’s relationship with the crime, but that it shows how people close to Marielle were probably deceived.

According to the website, the “certain degree of proximity is indicated by the call made directly to the chief delegate of the Civil Police, showing that he was provided with the personal contact details of the delegate at the time”. “Mr Marcelo Freixo makes it clear that he had already met with delegate Rivaldo Barbosa on several occasions in his own office, including in the presence of Marielle, his advisor at the time”.

Publication reach: As of March 26, the publication had more than 56.3 thousand views, 6 thousand likes, 253 comments and 1 thousand shares on X.

How we check: A search on Marcelo Freixo’s social media shows posts in which the former deputy states that he sought out Rivaldo Barbosa after being notified of Marielle’s death. He also commented on the episode in interviews with press vehicles. We also looked for reports from Marielle’s family members in the newspapers and for information about Freixo and Barbosa’s professional career.

Why we investigate: Comprova monitors suspicious content published on social networks and messaging applications about public policies and elections at the federal level and opens investigations into those publications that have greater reach and engagement. You can also suggest checks via WhatsApp +55 11 97045-4984.

Other checks on the topic: Other posts suggesting links between members of the Lula government and Marielle’s murder emerged after the arrest of three suspects on Sunday. Comprova has already shown that the man dancing next to Flávio Dino in the video is the governor of Maranhão, not Domingos Brazão and it has also proven to be an image montage that shows Domingos Brazão next to Lula.