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A former Brazilian congressman with ties to President Jair Bolsonaro shot and threw grenades at police officers, injuring two, in a failed attempt to prevent his arrest, authorities said Sunday.
Bolsonaro immediately condemned the armed attack by Roberto Jefferson and distanced himself from the former legislator, calling him a "bandit".
The Federal Supreme Court (STF) had ordered Jefferson to be taken back into custody after he broke the terms of his house arrest by issuing online attacks against Supreme Court Justice Carmen Lucia, calling her a "witch" and a "prostitute."
Jefferson barricaded himself in his home, located in Levy Gasaparian in Rio de Janeiro state, for eight hours.
He said in a video posted on social media that he had fired a gun, but that he did not intend to injure the officers.
The Federal Police indicated that Jefferson had resisted arrest using "firearms and explosives," but was finally taken into custody in the evening, "after an intense negotiation."
Two policemen "were wounded by shrapnel from a grenade thrown" by the ex-legislator, but received medical attention and are in good condition, according to the Federal Police.
Bolsonaro, who had earlier dispatched his justice minister to the scene, repudiated the "armed action" and expressed his solidarity with the wounded.
"Whoever shoots at the Federal Police is a bandit," he said during a television interview on Sunday night, while insisting he had no ties with Jefferson, who in 2020 said the president was his "personal friend."
Bolsonaro had claimed on social media that he had not taken photos with Jefferson, but several images were later published showing the two together since he became president in 2019.
Bolsonaro condemned the statements made by Jefferson against the Supreme Court justice, but also repudiated the STF investigations of Jefferson, which he believes are being carried out "without any support in the Constitution."
The armed standoff comes only a week before the presidential election's second round, which pits Bolsonaro against leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
>> Against the odds: In a blow for Brazil's left, Bolsonaro forces Lula into presidential run-off
"The offenses against Carmen Lucia cannot be accepted by anyone who respects democracy. They have created a violent faction in society. A machine to destroy democratic values. This generates behavior like the one we saw today," Lula wrote on Twitter.
(AFP)
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Ally of Brazil’s Bolsonaro refuses arrest, attacks police with gun and grenades - FRANCE 24 English
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