Brazil minister shows office 'completely destroyed' by rioters who stormed govt buildings

Brazil’s presidential communications secretary Paulo Pimenta gave a glimpse into the destruction caused by a furious mob that stormed multiple government institutions including the Supreme Court on Sunday. A video shared by Pimenta on Twitter shows shreds of broken glass, furniture, and computers in his office located on the second floor of Brazil’s presidential palace.

“The leadership room of @PTnaCamara was completely destroyed by Bolsonarista terrorists. The world is getting to know the DNA of the gang that once again attacked Brazilian democracy,” he wrote. “It's criminal what they've done. It's revolting,” he says in the clip as he walks through the destruction. “They are criminals and they need to be treated like criminals for what they've done to democracy and Brazil,” he added, according to The Guardian. 

Another set of images shared by the minister feature the weapons room in complete disorder, with toppled cupboards and torn seats. “This is how the Weapons Room of the GSI was left after the terrorists invaded the Planalto Palace. Everyone must be identified, held accountable and punished with the rigor of the law so that democracy does not suffer from this type of violence again. Zero tolerance for terrorism!” he wrote. 

Lula da Silva addresses the violent riots, vows to punish perpetrators

After rioters were dispersed from the presidential palace, Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva toured the ruins left behind at his official residence by far-right protesters who attempted to overthrow his government just a week after his inauguration. While Lula was not in the capital Brasília when the riots happened, he blamed his right-wing predecessor Jair Bolsonaro for the ruckus and assured that “anyone involved will be punished.” 

He then went on to label participants of the riots as “vandals, neo-fascists and fanatics”, before ordering a federal intervention. Sunday’s riots echoed the Jan 6 US Capitol attack, although former Brazilian supreme court judge Marco Aurélio Mello told the O Globo newspaper that “It was much worse than what happened at the Capitol.”