PF fulfills three warrants in SP as an extension of the 23rd phase of Lesa Pátria

This Wednesday morning (24), the Federal Police executed three search and seizure warrants in the city of Barueri, in the interior of São Paulo, as an extension of the 23rd phase of Operation Lesa Pátria.

The warrants are served against people who allegedly planned, financed and incited the acts of January 8, 2023 that led to the invasion and depredation of the headquarters of the Three Powers in Brasília. Preliminary information indicates that the target is a businessman who had hired a bus to take protesters to Brasília and participated in guiding them to invade public buildings.

According to the PF, this extension of the 23rd phase occurred due to “investigative convenience”. The warrants were authorized by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

The phase of the operation itself was launched on January 8, 2023, the date of the first year of acts of vandalism against public buildings, in which 46 search and seizure warrants and one preventive arrest warrant were requested in 11 states and the District Federal.

The operation targeted people identified as financing the acts, such as a businessman from Bahia who had hired a bus to take protesters to Brasília.

At that stage, search and seizure warrants were determined for the DF (5) and in Rio Grande do Sul (13), Bahia (3), Mato Grosso (10), Goiás (2), Minas Gerais (2), Maranhão (4), Paraná (1), Rondônia (1), São Paulo (1), Tocantins (3) and Santa Catarina (2).

The PF states that those investigated at this stage may be held liable for the crimes of violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup d’état, criminal association and incitement to crime.

On the other hand, the PF reported that this phase of Lesa Pátria is not related to the last one launched last week, the 24th, which targeted federal deputy Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ). The operation on the 18th highlighted an alleged connection between the parliamentarian and a protester who asked for guidance on how to proceed with blocking Brazilian highways after the second round of the 2022 presidential election.

The offensive against Jordy generated a reaction, with the opposition questioning Moraes’ decision to target the group’s leader in the Chamber. He had his office in Congress and his house in Niterói (RJ) searched by agents, with the seizure of items such as a weapon and electronic equipment.

“I never encouraged it, I never financed it, I have no relationship whatsoever with the 8th of January or with any of those people who went to the barracks. Then they [policiais federais] They say there are messages from me with people, that I would be a mentor or organizer of January 8th and roadblocks. That’s a lie, I never had access to any of these records”, said Jordy the day shortly before giving a statement to the Federal Police.