Bolsonarista escaped by bomb says he is on a farm – 04/26/2023 – Politics

One of the three defendants accused of trying to explode a bomb in a truck near Brasília International Airport on December 24, blogger and influencer Wellington Macedo has been on the run for four months and says he is sheltering in the farm of a Bolsonarist businessman.

In an interview with Sheet this Tuesday (25th), Macedo said he was innocent in the case of the attempted bomb explosion, stated that he did not know about the existence of the artifact or the plan to detonate it and claims to be the target of persecution by the Judiciary.

On the run since December, when he broke the electronic ankle bracelet and left the Federal District, the Bolsonarist says he does not intend to surrender to the police.

He also claims that he is in an isolated location – the farm of a rural producer he met in the camp with a coup bias set up in front of the Army headquarters in Brasília after the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) at the polls. The name of the entrepreneur and the location of the rural property were not revealed.

“I didn’t go back home, I went to another city. I’m on a farm with people I met in the camp. I’m well isolated, I’m far away”, he told the Sheetby phone.

Macedo held a position in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, acting as an advisor to the then Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights and now Senator Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF) from February to December 2019 with a gross salary of BRL 10,373.

He was arrested in 2021 by determination of Federal Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes on charges of encouraging anti-democratic acts on September 7. He left prison 42 days later and was being monitored by an electronic ankle bracelet.

Investigations by the Civil Police of the Federal District point out that Macedo was responsible for driving the car that transported the bomb from the Bolsonarist camp in front of the HQ to the Brasília airport.

The artifact was prepared by businessman George Washington de Oliveira and placed in a truck at the airport by fellow Bolsonarist Alan Diego dos Santos e Sousa, according to investigations. The three became defendants in January after the Federal District Court of Justice accepted the Public Ministry’s complaint. Only Macedo remains at large.

In the version told by Wellington Macedo, he was at the camp recording videos for the production of a documentary, when he was approached by Alan Diego, who asked him for a ride to the airport. He says he met him two days earlier in a tent where protesters from Pará were.

When they arrived near the airport, according to Macedo’s version, Alan Diego would have pulled the bomb out of a bag that was in the back seat of the car.

As they approached the truck, Alan Diego allegedly asked Macedo to slow down, placed part of his body outside the window and placed the device on a tire of the parked vehicle. Then, some time later, he pulled out a small remote control to detonate the explosive.

Macedo says he felt intimidated, but questioned: “I said: ‘man, why did you do this to me? You don’t even know me. You see me at HQ, you know I’m being persecuted and you get me involved in something like that?'”

Afterwards, he left Alan Diego at a hotel in Brasilia. Asked why he had not called the police to warn of the bomb near the airport, he said he was afraid of being arrested.

Police were called by the truck driver, who noticed that a box had been placed in the vehicle. A small dynamite with a timer was found at the scene. The explosive was removed by the bomb squad, which deactivated the artifact while still in place. No one is hurt.

Arrested on the same day as the attempted explosion, businessman George Washington told the Civil Police that he had planned with demonstrators to install explosives in at least two locations in the federal capital in the days prior to Lula’s inauguration.

The objective would be to “initiate the chaos” that would lead to the “decreation of a state of siege in the country”, which could “cause the intervention of the Armed Forces”.

Macedo, George Washington and Alan Diego respond in court for the crime of explosion, characterized by “exposing the life, physical integrity or property of another to danger, by means of an explosion, throwing or simple placement of a dynamite device or substance with similar effects “. The penalty is three to six years in prison and a fine.

Responsible for Macedo’s defense, lawyer Aécio de Paula filed on Monday (24) a prior defense at the Criminal Court of the Federal District that handles the case.

He alleges that, in testimony to the police, both George Washington and Alan Diego cleared their client of the attempted attack. He also highlights that Macedo did not even meet the Bolsonarist businessman who provided the bomb.

“We requested the ineptitude of the complaint. We understand that it is not a crime to give someone a ride. The Public Prosecutor’s Office failed to individualize [as condutas]”, says the lawyer, who defends that his client does not surrender to the police.

Macedo is also being investigated on suspicion of participating in depredations in Brasília, including an attempt to invade the Federal Police building on December 12, the day of Lula’s diplomacy.

The blogger says that he only recorded images of the acts of violence and that he does not defend coup agendas. On social media, however, he called for anti-democratic protests and allusions to a possible military coup.

He exempts former President Bolsonaro about the escalation of violence after the elections and says that the protesters became more radical in the weeks following the election. Now, he says he will step away from politics: “I’m very tired, I want to focus on my defence.”

In 2022, Macedo ran for federal deputy for the PTB of São Paulo, but had only 1,118 votes. During the campaign, he transferred R$99,000 from the amount he received from the party to hire the advertising company of a party leader from the PTB itself.