Brazil protests: Bolsonaro supporters attack police HQ

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Supporters of Brazil’s outgoing far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, tried to attack the headquarters of the federal police in Brasilia on Monday. Tension escalated after police arrested a pro-Bolsonaro indigenous leader. Mr Bolsonaro was defeated in last month’s election by his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but some of his supporters refuse to recognise the president’s defeat. They set alight several vehicles and blocked a number of roads, police said. Police said the protesters “attempted to invade” the federal police building, where José Acácio Serere Xavante was being held. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had ordered that the indigenous leader be detained for 10 days for “alleged anti-democratic acts”. According to prosecutors, José Acácio Serere Xavante had “attempted to incite people to try to abolish the rule of law and to impede the swearing-in of the president and vice-president elect”. Prosecutors did not provide details as to how the indigenous leader had tried to impede the handover of power, which is scheduled for 1 January. Mr Serere Xavante released a video from detention calling on people who had gathered outside the police HQ to “refrain from engaging in conflict, fights or confrontations” with the police force.(BBC)…[+]