Brazil authorities link bombing in the capital to extremist discourse

SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice said Thursday that the explosion outside the court in Brasilia was the consequence of frequent far-right attacks and hate speech targeting the country’s institutions.

“It grew under the guise of a criminal use of freedom of speech. To offend, threaten, coerce,” Justice Alexandre de Moraes said at an event at the National Council of The Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Federal Police are investigating the explosions on Wednesday as terrorism and a violent attack on the democratic rule of law, its director, Andrei Passos, said at a news conference later. Passos said that the man had attempted to enter the Supreme Court, and that police aren’t considering the blast to be the work of a lone wolf.

“As much as this was an individual, behind him there is all of this discourse that leads someone to commit this,” Passos said. “These actions are not isolated actions.”

Security camera footage from the Supreme Court, obtained by television network Globo, shows the suspect approaching a statue outside the Supreme Court. As a guard nears, the man throws an explosive and retreats a few steps, then throws a second device and an explosion follows. Finally, the suspect ignites a third device near to himself, causing his death.

Passos said that the man was a native of southern Santa Catarina state where he previously ran for city council, and had been in Brasilia several months.

Celina Leão, the lieutenant governor of Brazil’s federal district, said Wednesday night that the man first detonated explosives in a car in a Congress parking lot, which didn’t cause injuries. Then he went to Three Powers Plaza, where the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace are located.

Local media identified the man as being a member of Brazil’s Liberal Party, the same as former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro has railed against the Supreme Court in the past and specifically focused his ire on de Moraes.

Bolsonaro supporters consider de Moraes their chief enemy. He has led a five-year investigation into fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices, which has led to the ban of some far-right allies and supporters from social media and even some imprisonments. He also presided over the nation’s top electoral court when it ruled Bolsonaro ineligible for office until 2030, finding that he had abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the validity of the 2022 election result.

Bolsonaro condemned the attack on social media.

“It is high time for Brazil to once again cultivate an environment suitable for different ideas to confront each other peacefully, and for the strength of arguments to be worth more than the argument of force,” he wrote.

Some accuse de Moraes of overstepping in the name of protecting Brazilian democracy from the twin threats of political violence and disinformation. Others view his brash tactics as justified by extraordinary circumstances.

Months after Bolsonaro lost his 2022 election bid, Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed the main government buildings in Brasilia, seeking to oust his leftist successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from power. It was widely seen as an echo of the insurrection in the U.S. Capitol two years earlier.

The Supreme Court has since convicted hundreds of those involved in the uprising for crimes such as criminal association and attempted coup.

De Moraes said Thursday that the explosions outside the Supreme Court appeared to be the most serious attack on the institution since then.

“The country’s pacification is only possible with the accountability of all criminals. There is no possibility of pacification with amnesty for criminals,” de Moraes said.

Earlier this year, de Moraes ordered a nationwide ban of X after a long dispute with its billionaire owner, Elon Musk, over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Musk had disparaged de Moraes, calling him an authoritarian and a censor, even though his rulings, including X’s suspension, were repeatedly upheld by his peers. The platform was reinstated in October.