The one in 2023, in which supporters of the former president () vandalized the headquarters of the three Powers, was the result of incitement orchestrated by coup plotters from around the former president to justify a coup d’état, according to a report on the coup plot released this Tuesday on Friday (26) about the coup plot.
For legal experts consulted by the Sheetthe investigation weakens the argument that January 8th was an isolated case, a thesis already defended by the defense of the accused.
The episode appears in the PF report as one of “other actions to pressure the Army commander to join the coup d’état”.
According to the document, a message from retired general Mário Fernandes to general Marco Antônio Freire Gomes, dated November 7, 2022, speaks of the need for a “trigger event” for the coup.
“And perhaps you agree with me, COMMANDER, regarding the fact that the current demonstrations tend to intensify, providing trigger events from the action of the Security Forces against the popular masses, with the use of devices such as tear gas and Gr of effect morale…All this, very close to or in our military areas!”, states the message credited to Mario Fernandes.
In the text, he talks about the need to have a social appeal base for the military to intervene.
The reserve soldier was identified as one of the most radical among those involved with the coup plot.
According to the PF, those investigated in the investigation “awaited an action that could trigger institutional rupture, with the support of the .”
“In this way, they continued to monitor Minister Alexandre de Moraes and incite and subsidize anti-democratic demonstrations in front of military installations, a fact that culminated in the violent events of January 8, 2023, when the coup d’état was once again attempted in the country “, points out the report.
According to the document, there was dialogue between the leaders of the anti-democratic demonstrations and members of Bolsonaro’s government, through the “black kids”, soldiers trained in the Special Forces courses, the Army’s main elite troop.
The report also highlights a message from Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp, directing protesters to Praça dos Três Poderes in 2022. Furthermore, the coup plotters would have counted on the help of allied parliamentarians to convince the population to participate in the demonstrations.
The report contains an exchange of messages between Mauro Cid and his wife, Gabriela Cid, on January 8th.
In the messages, Gabriela sends images related to the coup attacks, and Cid states that, if the Army were to intervene, it would be to help the coup, according to the report. “If the EB leaves the barracks…and to join”, Cid replies to his wife.
The police also point out that the previous context with coup narratives generated actions like the one in January 2023.
“This method of systematic attacks on the most cherished values of the Democratic State of Law created the right environment for the flourishing of radicalism which, as explained above, culminated in the acts of January 8, 2023, but which is still in a state of latency in part of society, exemplified in the bomb attack that occurred on November 13, 2024 in the city of Brasília.”
For Carolina Cyrillo, professor of constitutional law at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), there are elements to understand that January 8th was not an isolated case. “It weakens the narrative that people on January 8 didn’t want a coup,” he says.
She states that the intentionality of crimes needs to be analyzed in context, marked by the existence of preparatory, institutional or coordinated acts against democracy.
Henderson Fürst, professor of constitutional law at PUC Campinas, agrees that the report points to evidence that January 8th was not a unique event. “There are conversations demonstrating complementation and adequacy of the plan to be implemented during the new government”, he states.
“The preliminary evidence allows us to conclude that January 8th was not an isolated act, although it is not clear how the mobilization and action mechanism manifested itself. But it is possible to observe that the previous plan was changed with a view to January 8th.”
On Thursday (21), in the attempted coup d’état. In addition to the former president, reserve general Walter Braga Netto, former Minister of Defense and vice-president in 2022 on the defeated ticket, the national president of the PL, Valdemar Costa Neto, the former director general of Abin (Agência Brasileira of Intelligence) Alexandre Ramagem and the former minister of the GSI (Institutional Security Office) Augusto Heleno.
On November 19th, the Federal Police and a police officer for plotting the death of President Lula (PT), his vice, (), and the minister, of the (Supreme Federal Court).
The PF’s action was authorized by Moraes, who, in the decision, pointed out that the police defined a sequence line of crimes that are interconnected, including January 8th.
The PF representation says that the criminal organization aimed to incite part of the population to stay in front of military installations “to create an environment conducive to a coup d’état”, with “techniques of psychological actions and strategic propaganda in a politically sensitive environment by ‘black kids’ “.
The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, has also pointed out that there is a link between the coup plan and the acts of January 8th in a statement sent to the STF in June, according to UOL, which had access to the document.
“The elements of conviction collected so far indicate that the actions of the criminal organization investigated were essential for the outbreak of the predatory acts that occurred on January 8, 2023”, said Gonet in a statement given during the investigation into the coup plan.
