During an act in defense of amnesty for the convicts of January 8, on Sunday, 6, in São Paulo, former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) used the conviction of popcorn and ice cream sellers to criticize the conduct of lawsuits against attacks of the headquarters of the three powers by 2023.
Bolsonaro said: “Look what is happening in the Supreme today. They already have a majority to condemn a popcornman and an ice cream by coup. It is unbelievable what happens,” he said.
Then he quoted the case in English, excerpt from the speech that repercussions on a video on social networks: “Popcorn and Ice Cream Sellers Sentenced for Coup d’état in Brazil” (“Pipoqueiros and Ice Creamyrs are convicted of coup d’état in Brazil” in Portuguese).
Bolsonaro referred to Carlos Antônio Eifler, the popcorn, and Otoniel Francisco da Cruz, the ice cream. They were convicted by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) last Friday, 4, for criminal association and incitement to the crime, with a penalty of one year in prison and payment of a fine.
In his vote, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of cases, replaced the restrictive penalty of freedom with restrictive penalty of rights. The two should provide services to the community and participate in a course on “democracy, rule of law and coup, and are prohibited from using social networks or leaving the district in which they reside.
Most court ministers accompanied the rapporteur in the votes, except Kassio Nunes Marques and André Mendonça, who asked for the duo’s acquittal. Both magistrates were nominated to the court by Bolsonaro.
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According to the vote of Moraes, the cases fit the context of multipurpose crimes, in which a joint action is perpetrated by numerous agents, all contributing to the result.
The minister also stressed that the coup camp in front of the Army headquarters “was extremely organized and with well-defined tasks”, being the accreditation and permanence of the two in the place sufficient to verify “the common purpose of the performance of the scammer.”
By March this year, the court has already condemned 434 involved in the coup attacks.
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Who is Pipoqueiro?
Businessman Carlos Antônio Eifler, 54, is from Lajeado (RS) and has a small popcorn business registered in his name since 2020. In testimony, he said he arrived in the federal capital on January 8, 2023, around 2:30 pm, and went straight to the camp with his tent, where he spent the night. “After finishing the part of the tent assembly, it was already in the evening. At this moment until night, we didn’t leave the HQ,” he said.
Carlos Eifler also stated that he had two intuitions, meet Brasilia and “make a symbolic hug around the terraces.” He declared that he did not break anything or invade any public building.
On social networks, the popcorqueiro accumulates posts in which he says he is disgusted with the result of the ballot box in 2022, as well as explicitly supporting the scammer camps and asking for a military intervention led by Bolsonaro.
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Who is the ice cream?
The other quoted by Bolsonaro is 45 -year -old Otoniel Francisco da Cruz, born in Porto Seguro (BA). In an audience, he said working selling popsicles on the beach. He stated that he left Porto Seguro on a chartered bus, where he traveled without paying a ticket.
He arrived in Brasilia on the night of the 8th, when the attacks had already occurred, and spent on the camp, where he said, had access to food and drink for free. He said he remained in the HQ until the 9th, when he was arrested by the Federal Police (PF).
The Ice Cream stated that one of the goals of the trip was to manifest “peacefully against evil.” “I am not against the government, I am against some government guidelines, which is abortion and drugs (sic),” he said during a statement.
