Politician allied with Bolsonaro charged with attempted murder after attacking police officers

Former Brazilian federal deputy and ally of President Jair Bolsonaro, Roberto Jefferson, was charged with four attempted homicides after he shot at Federal Police agents who went to arrest him at his home on Sunday.

The accusation of the Federal Police refers to “the two agents who were wounded by shrapnel and two others who were inside a vehicle but were not hit,” according to media such as the portal G1 citing police sources.

Jefferson used a rifle and threw grenades at the agents who went to his house in Comendador Levy Gasparian (Rio de Janeiro state, southeast) on Oct. 23, following an order from Federal Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes.

The politician barricaded himself in his house for eight hours but surrendered at the end of the afternoon; he is now being held in prison in Rio de Janeiro.

The former deputy was under house arrest for allegedly belonging to a “digital militia” that organizes attacks on democratic institutions through the Internet.

Since he failed to comply with several arrest measures (such as using social networks, receiving visitors, granting interviews, or disseminating false news), Judge Moraes decided to return him to jail.

While he was barricaded, Jefferson demanded the presence of the Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres, who arrived at his house by the determination of President Bolsonaro.

The president and presidential candidate condemned Jefferson’s actions and the Supreme Court’s investigation.

They tried to dissociate himself from his ally, saying he did not even have a photo with him.

During the eight-hour negotiation for him to surrender to the police, extreme right-wing sympathizers went to Jefferson’s house to support him and attacked the journalists there.

At the end of August, the former congressman was denounced by the Federal Attorney General’s Office for incitement to commit crimes after encouraging the Brazilian people to invade the Federal Senate headquarters and attack the senators who were part of the pandemic investigation commission.

Jefferson was also denounced for “promoting the destruction, with the use of an explosive substance, of the Superior Electoral Court building”.

In addition, he was denounced for crimes of racism (for insulting the Chinese ambassador in Brazil, Yang Wanmig, whom he called a monkey) and homophobia for associating the LGTBI community with drug trafficking and other crimes.