RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Horrifying images show Brazilian police shoving a black man into the trunk of their car by the roadside as what appears to be a teargas canister is released inside. The man later died of asphyxiation.
Genivaldo de Jesus Santos, 38, was reportedly taking prescription medications for schizophrenia. Rio-based activist and politician Renata Souza claimed: “There are no words in the face of such inhumanity.”
Outrage swept the entire country as protesters in the northeastern city of Umbauba in Sergipe state burnt tires and blocked roads, while President Bolsonaro vowed to get to the bottom of the incident.
SERGIPE POLICE PARTICULARLY BRUTAL
Sergipe, where Genivaldo de Jesus Santos was killed is the state with the country’s third-highest rate of deaths from police operations.
According to data released last year by the Brazilian Public Security Forum, the state’s rate of 8.5 deaths from police operations per 100,000 inhabitants puts it behind only Amapá (13) and Goiás (8.9).
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE
Genivaldo de Jesus Santos was riding a motorcycle yesterday afternoon when he was flashed on BR-101 in Umbauba. His nephew Wallison de Jesus Santos told UOL that the police officers asked his uncle to stop the motorcycle – which the victim immediately complied with, he said. “He stopped, put the motorcycle on the tripod, and obeyed all the commands,” he said.
The officers then asked him to air his shirt, whereupon Genivaldo said he had psychotropic drugs in his pocket and possessed the prescription to prove the disorders. Wallison saw the beginning of an uproar against his uncle and alerted the police, who confirmed Genivaldo’s version.
“We asked them to calm down and that he would do whatever they asked. But the police officer called for backup over the microphone, and two more officers arrived shortly after,” he recalls. When the two additional officers arrived, a series of assaults occurred, even though Genivaldo had surrendered and was immobilized.
As soon as gassed Santos stopped struggling and screaming, the police officers closed the back door of the vehicle, got into the car, and left the scene.