Morning Briefing: Supporters of Former President Jair Bolsonaro Storm Brazil's State Institutions
Morning Briefing: Supporters of Former President Jair Bolsonaro Storm Brazil's State Institutions
Supporters of the former president raided the Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace, in the 'worst attack on Brazil's state institutions since its return to democracy in the 1980s.'
Morning Briefing: Only two days after the second anniversary of the January 6th Insurrection in Washington, D.C., a similar scene was repeated in Brasília, Brazil as “crowds of supporters who appear to back former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro stormed that country’s major government buildings, including the presidential offices, legislative building, and supreme court.”
Brazil’s Supreme Court has been “ransacked by the occupiers, according to social media images that showed protesters clubbing security cameras and shattering the windows of the modernist building.”
At least 1,200 protesters have been detained, and “authorities launched an investigation.” Condemnations of the “worst attack on Brazil's state institutions since its return to democracy in the 1980s,” were “echoed by world leaders across the globe.”
Michele Prado, author of Red Pill: Radicalization and Extremism: “It will not be restricted to Brasília; It was not unexpected or unpredictable. It was exactly what had been planned for years to happen.” (Read the entire thread)
Despite promises to halt donations to members of Congress what voted against certifying the 2020 election results, “corporate PACs and industry trade groups have steered more than $66 million to election objectors since Jan. 6, 2021.”
Derrick Evans, a former West Virginia state lawmaker who served prison time participating in the Capitol Riot, said “that he hopes to return to the scene of his crime as an elected official.”
Must Reads
Andre Pagliarini writes that “the attack on three government buildings suggests that the challenge to Brazilian democracy has transcended Bolsonaro. The right-wing extremist who stunned Brazil’s political establishment to win power in 2018 is fading politically, dismissed by erstwhile allies and mocked online for his mundane outings as a Florida Man. His time in office, however, activated a long-running reactionary strain in Brazilian democracy that is deeply hostile to democracy. In the run-up to the 1964 coup, for example, thousands of Brazilians took to the streets in the name of anti-communism to call for the ouster of a democratically elected president associated with the left. Those demonstrations paved the way for a bloody military dictatorship that lasted 21 years. Bolsonaro has spent a decades-long career praising that regime, chafing at the conventions of democracy along the way.” [The New Republic]
John Knefel reports that “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed right-wing activist Christopher Rufo, who rose to national prominence demonizing racial justice advocates and attacking LGBTQ communities, to the board of trustees of the New College of Florida. The appointment is all the more noteworthy given that Rufo lives in Gig Harbor, Washington. Rufo is a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute and has spent years attempting to inject bigotry and incorrect information into mainstream discourses about gay and trans people, drag queens, and the academic discipline known as critical race theory. Rufo is also a frequent guest on Fox News, including on Tucker Carlson’s prime-time show.” [MMFA]
Tom Nichols writes that “too many of the most important figures in the January 6 plot—and, as we know from the House investigation, it was indeed a plot, and not some random outbreak of violence—have escaped true accountability. From Trump on down to the group that the Washington Post writer Greg Sargent calls the ‘coup lawyers,’ including John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani, we know their names. But severe consequences for such people have been rare. Meanwhile, most of the Republicans who voted to overturn the election are still in Congress—or would be, if the House could get organized enough to swear them in… The White House event to honor those who defended democracy took place at the same time that Representative Kevin McCarthy, just down the street at the Capitol, submitted himself for another few rounds of political bastinado, as the House, for the 12th and 13th times, failed to elect a speaker.” [The Atlantic]
Radical Reports Book Club: Jesus and John Wayne
Discussion on Twitter Spaces: Jesus and John Wayne: Chapters 1 — 5 (Thursday, January 12th at 12:00pm EST)
What to expect from Radical Reports: Morning Briefing provides a daily round-up of reporting on the Radical Right; Extremist Links offers a weekly round-up of extremists activities including the white supremacist and militia movements; Narratives of the Right delivers weekly analysis of the current narratives in far right online spaces and promoted by right-wing media; and Research Desk provides monthly highlights research and analysis from academia on the Radical Right.
