National Force warned about 8/1; report remains confidential – 09/26/2023 – Power

An intelligence report produced by the National Public Security Force on January 5 warned about the possibility of violent acts in Brasília against the results of the elections by CACs (hunters, shooters and collectors).

The document stated that preparations were underway for an attack against the institutions on January 8 (including the use of firearms and homemade explosives) and suggested the existence of an “extremist criminal association with political-ideological motivations.”

The report listed a series of messages exchanged in a WhatsApp group with 237 members called “Raffles shooting and fishing”, and concluded: “Some more exalted members may come to realize what they plan and express in their posts”.

“In the group under discussion, we noticed several dialogues where members instigate others to participate in an act that will take place in Brasília on January 8th of this year, not peacefully, but with the use of violence through the use of firearms. fire, as well as homemade explosives”, said the text.

In the conversation, the participants —mostly CACs, a group that benefited from the arms policy of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL)— complained about measures announced by the Lula (PT) government to tighten access to weapons, exchanged information about the manufacture of weapons, and organized themselves for violent action in the country’s capital.

“In the report presented, the vast majority of the group’s members show dissatisfaction with the new Federal Administration and with the measures taken recently, which changed the rules for possession and carrying of weapons throughout the national territory,” stated the report.

“For this reason, some members allegedly made posts that mention manufacturing and using explosives in demonstrations that are being planned, according to them, to take place in Brasília,” he concluded.

The existence of the National Force’s intelligence report has been known since January, but since then, different authorities questioned by the Sheet They stated that they were unaware of the content of the document.

The CPI of the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District requested a copy of the report at the beginning of the investigations, without success. In May, the Sheet requested the full document via LAI (Access to Information Law), but the National Force responded that the document was confidential and denied access.

The list of recipients of the document indicated that a copy was delivered to the director of the National Public Security Force and the Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Justice, but did not mention names.

When questioned, the ministry stated that those responsible for the bodies on that date, respectively, were delegates Ivair Matos Santos and Tomás de Almeida Viana.

The ministry highlighted that Tomás was “coming from the old administration” and was heading the Intelligence Directorate in place of the former head, Marília Alencar — right-hand woman of Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro’s former minister. Marília accompanied Torres back to the Public Security Secretariat of the Federal District after Lula’s victory and was responsible for the department’s intelligence on January 8th.

Until the end of the Bolsonaro government, the National Force was under the command of Colonel José Américo Gaia, today Acre’s Secretary of Public Security. He was dismissed on January 2. The current director, Fernando Alencar Medeiros, was only appointed on the 9th, after the coup attacks.

The Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Justice, at that time, was being transformed into the Integrated Operations and Intelligence Directorate. The current organization of the ministry came into effect on January 24th. Therefore, authorities report that, in the first days of the year, the organizational chart was being reformulated and many positions remained vacant.

In a statement, the Ministry of Justice stated that it is not possible to know what was done based on the report. The ministry said that the document was delivered to the Public Security Secretariat of the Federal District, which is responsible for policing the Esplanada dos Ministérios.

“Based on the information gathered, there are no records at DIOPI [Diretoria de Operações Integradas e de Inteligência] that allow us to know what measures were adopted by the then Intelligence Directorate upon receipt of this report. The sending to the Public Security Secretariat of the Federal District arises from the fact that this is the legally competent body for the ostensible policing of the Esplanada dos Ministérios.”

The document from the National Public Security Force is one of the only intelligence reports produced on the risk of attacks on January 8, as Abin (Brazilian Intelligence Agency) itself admits to having only sent intelligence “alerts” via WhatsApp.

In addition to the National Force document, there is only a record of the report produced by the Public Security Secretariat of the Federal District two days before the episode. The content of the text was revealed by Sheet on January 14th.

In a memo dated January 25, the Public Security Secretariat of the Federal District also stated that it had received the National Force document from the Ministry of Justice itself. The secretariat said that this was the only intelligence report prior to the 8th.

Although the security of the Esplanada dos Ministérios is the responsibility of the Government of the Federal District, the opposition is pressing for the summons of the substitute director of the National Force and the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino (PSB), at the CPI on January 8th.

Dino placed the men at the disposal of governor Ibaneis Rocha (MDB) on the eve of the attacks, but they were only activated on the 8th, when Congress, the Planalto Palace and the STF (Supreme Federal Court) had already been invaded and vandalized. .