Brazilian Lawmaker Surveys Damage After Protesters Storm Congress

A Brazilian lawmaker streamed video showing the damage caused after supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed Brazil’s National Congress and Supreme court on Sunday, January 8.

Aliel Machado, who serves as a deputy in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Congress, streamed footage from inside Planalto Palace showing photographs of former Brazilian presidents, which hung on the wall, ripped and strewn across the floor. Broken windows and additional damage can also be seen within the building.

Additional footage shows an upended shelter and overturned barricades outside the Supreme Court.

People who had stormed congress earlier that day, driven by false claims that the presidential election was stolen, chanted slogans and held signs that called for a military coup, local media reported.

The incident occurred one week after Luis Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as the country’s president. Da Silva vowed to punish protesters and signed a decree declaring federal intervention in Brasilia. Credit: Aliel Machado via Storyful