Video Shows PMs Beating up Youths in School in São Paulo’s West Zone
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – State Police (PM) officers are shown in videos posted on social media beating up two youths at Emygdio de Barros State School in Jardim Bonfiglioli, West Zone of São Paulo, on Tuesday night, February 18th.
The footage shows that a police officer overpowers a boy through a chokehold. In one of the videos, a boy is seen on the ground, overpowered by a police officer. In another, one of the boys is punched in the face, controlled by a state police officer, while another officer comes from behind and sweep-kicks the boy, who then falls. On the ground, he gets kicked in the back. The police officers even point their guns at the students who were filming the deed.
In a third video, two boys are shown being taken in handcuffs by state police officers down the school stairway. The students were arrested for contempt and sent to the 91st Police District, in Vila Leopoldina. They testified to the police chief on Wednesday morning , February 19th . The State Police (MP) officers involved and the school board were also heard.
In a statement, the Secretariat of Public Safety said it will examine the footage and take appropriate measures. The State Secretariat of Education also said it will examine the case and cooperate with the investigations. After the disclosure of the affair, the PM decided to exclude the police officers.
The Rio Pequeno Guardianship Council was notified of the case and reported that it will refer the denunciation to the Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office so that they may take the appropriate measures regarding both the PM and the school board, which, according to student reports to councilors, allowed the access of state police officers into the school.
According to one of the students’ reports, the matter started when one of the students seen being attacked by the MPs realized that his name was not on the list of school enrolments.
He questioned the absence of his name at the school administration, which allegedly asked him to leave the institution. He refused to leave the school and a dispute between the student and the school administration began, which led to the PM being called in.
According to guardianship councilor Gledson Deziatto, the case is deemed serious. “It was a situation of abuse of authority by both the school and the MP. This cannot happen inside a school. We will ask the São Paulo Prosecutor’s Office to take the necessary measures in this case. The students are afraid to go to school,” he said.
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