Intervener points out “operational failure” of security forces on January 8

The federal intervenor in Public Security in the Federal District (DF), Ricardo Cappelli, pointed out that there was an “operational failure” on the part of the security forces during the acts of vandalism that took place in Brasília on January 8. Cappelli presented this Friday (27) the final report on the invasion of the headquarters of the Three Powers.

The document was expected to be delivered this Thursday (26), but it was postponed so that images of the depredation of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) building could be analyzed. Copies of the report were forwarded to the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, and to the Minister of the STF, Alexandre de Moraes, responsible for conducting the inquiry that investigates the acts, informed Agência Brasil.

According to the intervenor, given the warning of a possible violent action, the Public Security Secretariat of the Federal District, then commanded by Anderson Torres, should prepare an operational plan and ask the security forces to present, in particular the Military Police, guidelines for the performance and mobilization of troops.

“On the 8th this did not happen. There is no operational plan, nor service order. So there is no record of how many men would go to the field. What happened was just a bureaucratic transfer of the letter received to some units by the PM’s Department of Operations, ”he said.

The intervenor stated that the units most directly related to contain this type of event were not even activated, including the Operations Battalion (Bope), the Police Battalion with Dogs (BPCães), the Operational Aviation Battalion (Bavop) and the Mounted Police Regiment (RPMon).

“There is an operational failure, because the existing intelligence report does not generate adequate operational deployment. When we look at the first day [data da posse de Lula] we see a big difference between what was done that day and the operational failure on the 8th”, he compared.

Another point highlighted by Cappelli was that on January 6, a police intelligence document pointing to the intention of violent protests against the election result was delivered to Torres’ office. “In that intelligence report it said that a demonstration was called as a seizure of power. There was a concrete threat of invasion of public buildings and everything that could happen is written there, ”he said.

Number of police was not enough to contain acts

The report, Cappelli said, shows that on the day of the attacks, the number of military police mobilized to work on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, 555, was expected for an ordinary routine. “There is a video with the Security Secretariat cameras where it can be seen that we didn’t have half of that on the esplanade. The impression given in the video is that there were 150 men on the Esplanade that day. It is a staff that does not keep correspondence with the intelligence alert of the 6th”, he criticized.

According to the report, the demonstration left the camp located in front of the Army HQ around 1 pm on January 8, and along the way there are records of arrests made by the police of people with utensils that already pointed to the intention more violent action. The break in the containment line at the height of Alameda dos Estados, in front of the National Congress, occurred around 2:43 pm.

“Which demonstrates that, between the departure of the demonstration and the arrival and breaking of the containment line, we had around an hour and forty minutes, enough time for troops to be activated to support the line, since it was becoming clear the protesters’ intentions. Activation takes place only at 3 pm and when some troops arrive at the Esplanade [a sede] the Three Powers were already invaded,” said Cappelli.

“It was an organized action, a professional action, because you see people with radio communicators and it’s amazing how, at a given moment, everyone gets up at the same time and pulls the first line of railings and they fall from end to end, it was a coordinated movement,” he said.

Camping

According to the intervenor, the events that took place in Brasília from the end of last year until the 8th passed by the camp in front of the Army HQ, in Brasília. Among these events is the attempt to invade the headquarters of the Federal Police, on December 12, which resulted in the burning of vehicles and the attempt to explode a bomb at Brasília International Airport.

“In all these events, all the disturbances in the Federal District, these elements left the camp, performed acts and then returned to the Urban Military Sector. [onde fica o Quartel General do Exército]. This is important to register: the centrality of that camp in all the criminal acts registered in the Federal District, throughout November, December and that culminated on the 8th”, he said.

Cappelli also said that the report shows that the camp had a large structure, with a kitchen, chemical toilets and generators, with more than 300 vehicles parked, including trucks from different states of the country. According to him, on the eve of the attacks on January 8, the place was home to around 4,000 people. “You had a whole infrastructure set up, in a real coup-mongering, terrorist mini-city in front of the Army Headquarters”, said the intervenor.

lack of command

Cappelli stated that there was a lack of command and responsibility by the then DF Public Security Secretary, Anderson Torres, and the Military Police high command in operational planning related to the acts of the 8th, since there was an intelligence report showing the intention to practice of violence.

“At best, there was a lack of command and responsibility. Justice is investigating and this set of coincidences can characterize something much worse than the absence of command and responsibility,” he said. Cappelli stated that nine colonels, responsible for different battalions, were on vacation on the day of the vandalism. “This is another issue that may have had an impact on the events that took place on the 8th,” he pointed out.

The intervenor said that the Commander of the Military Police, Fábio Augusto, had been in the field of operations since the beginning of the morning and that he acted to try to defend the line in the National Congress and later in the STF. The soldier has been arrested since January 12th.

“Despite his attempts to mobilize the other battalions, his orders and appeals were not heeded. The commander was in the field, acted individually, but lost command and the ability to command the troops throughout the 8th. He made appeals that were ignored and were not heeded, ”he said.