Intervener points out leniency of PM and inertia of Torres in coup attacks on the 8th – 01/27/2023 – Politics

The federal intervenor in the Secretariat of Public Security of the Federal District, Ricardo Capelli, pointed out the failures of the Military Police and the coup camp in front of the Army Headquarters as the causes for the invasion of Congress, the STF (Federal Supreme Court) and of the Planalto Palace during the coup demonstration on January 8.

Capelli also criticized the politicization of the police in the DF and pointed out that the former Secretary of Public Security of the Federal District Anderson Torres had an intelligence report on the danger predicted for January 8 since the 6th of the same month.

“In all the riots in the DF during this period [entre a vitória do presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT)] these elements left the camp, practiced acts and then returned to the Urban Military Sector”, he evaluated.

The camp began to form on October 31, the first day after Lula’s victory over Jair Bolsonaro (PL), and it grew as the PT’s inauguration approached.

“It was not a common camp. The camp does not have a kitchen, chemical toilets, generators. It was a real mini coup city set up in front of the Army HQ”, he evaluated.

Despite this, Capelli pointed out, operations to demobilize the camp were successively abandoned by the Army the day before they were carried out on several occasions.

“There was mobilization of men for these operations, registered, and they were canceled the day before due to considerations made by the Brazilian Army, by the Military Command of the Planalto”, he said.

Capelli, however, avoided criticizing the Army when asked directly about the role of the Force. He boiled down to saying that the role of the report was to deal with the DF security forces.

In this sense, the intervenor elaborated further on the various failures of the Military Police that culminated in the coup acts on the 8th.

First, the intervenor pointed out, there was enough information on the anticipated risks for January 8th, a Sunday, already on January 6th.

“There was information about what would happen on the 8th. There is a report from the Secretariat of Public Security on the 6th where it is written verbatim. [O relatório] was delivered to the office of the secretary of the DF [Anderson Torres] on the 6th itself and said that in the demonstration called as a seizure of power there was a concrete threat of invasion of public buildings”, he revealed.

The intelligence report, however, did not turn into an operational plan or service orders to reinforce policing on the day of the demonstration at the Esplanada dos Ministérios.

“The impact of Anderson’s inauguration on the 2nd is clear, the instability it generated in the secretariat with dismissals, exchanges, and soon after he travels, receives a report and there is no development”, he pointed out.

Another element considered serious by the intervenor is that, in addition to Torres, nine other people in command posts in the Military Police of the Federal District were on vacation on January 8th.

Quoting former Chancellor Celso Amorim, Capelli stated that “whoever wants to believe in coincidences, I only believe in conspiracy theories. I think there are many coincidences together, and you can see an escalation“.

In addition, the interventor criticized the politicization of the security forces in the DF, with politicians appointing police officers to command positions within the corporations, which would lead to a breakdown in discipline and hierarchy in the corporation.

“When we have the PM, which is a structure with a culture of hierarchy and discipline, each politician appointing a commander, a deputy commander, a battalion chief, we have a lot of difficulty maintaining hierarchy and discipline”, he evaluated.

In this sense, he pointed out situations on the 8th in which the commander of the PM of the DF, Fabio Augusto, requested reinforcements already during the invasions of the headquarters of the Three Powers and was not obeyed.

Thus, Capelli summarized, there was a “succession of problems, from non-existent operational planning, to an unacceptable passive posture in the face of the serious threat to the Republic and even inadequate operational handling”.

According to the intervenor, who leaves his post on January 31, when he returns to the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice, there are six open military police investigations investigating possible crimes against members of the security forces on January 8.

They investigate everything from police participation in the security and financing of the camps to specific situations identified during the act, such as when police took pictures with demonstrators.

The new Secretary of Public Security for the DF, Sandro Avelar, who will assume the post in early February, guaranteed that they will move forward.

“Investigations will follow their course, it is a priority activity so that we can clarify the facts”, he said.