A Brazilian man arrested for attempting to detonate an explosive device ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was influenced by President Jair Bolsonaro’s call to arms, Reuters reported quoting a copy of his police testimony.
The man, identified as George Washington de Oliveira Sousa, was arrested on Saturday after the police managed to foil his plans to set off bombs in protest against Brazil’s election result.
The suspect’s lawyer, Wallison dos Reis Pereira, said he had confessed and was cooperating with police.
But Sousa’s current lawyer Jorge Chediak said he had yet to speak with Sousa, but said his confession to police was full of “contradictions.”
According to Reuters news agency, Sousa, 54, during his police questioning admitted that he was inspired by Bolsonaro’s false claim that the elections were rigged.
Before joining an encampment of pro-Bolsonaro election-deniers, Sousa was working at a gas station.
He joined the election-deniers, who were calling for a coup. “My trip to Brasilia was so I could join the protests in front of the army headquarters and wait for the armed forces to authorize me to take up arms and destroy communism,” he said, according to the copy of his testimony.
In October last year, after becoming a registered gun-owner, he joined a called the CAC, which had nearly 700,000 people since Bolsonaro was elected in 2018 and began loosening gun laws.
Sousa said he had invested nearly 160,000 reais ($30,800) since then to grow his arsenal.
“What motivated me to buy the guns were the words of President Bolsonaro, who always emphasized the importance of civilians being armed by saying, ‘An armed population will never be enslaved,'” Sousa purportedly said.
Meanwhile, the incoming Justice Minister, Flavio Dino, on Monday said that security has been beefed up for Sunday’s inauguration of Lula da Silva.
“We’re not talking about a lone wolf,” Dino said of Sousa. “There are powerful people behind this and the police will investigate. We won’t allow political terrorism in Brazil.”
(With inputs from agencies)
