Who they are and how black kids ace, who can become defendants in the STF by coup d’état

The First Class of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) began to judge on Tuesday (20) if the complaint of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) against 12 members of the so-called “core 3” of the coup attempt to keep Jair Bolsonaro in power. Among the accused are 11 active and reserve military personnel, including two generals, and a Federal Police agent.

If the complaint is accepted, everyone will become defendants for crimes such as violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, attempted coup, armed criminal organization, qualified damage and deterioration of listed heritage.

Who are the accused

• Estevam Theophilo, reserve general and former head of the Army Land Operations Command;
• Nilton Diniz Rodrigues, Army General;
• Bernardo Correa Netto, Colonel arrested in Operation Tempus Veritatis of the Federal Police;
• Cleverson Ney, Reserve Colonel and former Operations Command Operations Officer;
• Fabrício Moreira de Bastos, army colonel and allegedly involved with a scammer letter;
• Márcio Nunes de Resende Júnior, Army Colonel;
• Hélio Ferreira Lima, Army Lieutenant Colonel and member of the “Kids Black” group;
• Rafael Martins de Oliveira, Lieutenant Colonel and member of the group “Kids Pretos”;
• Rodrigo Bezerra de Azevedo, Lieutenant Colonel of the Army and member of the group “Kids Black”;
• Ronald Ferreira de Araújo Junior, Army Lieutenant Colonel accused of participating in discussions about a coup draft;
• Sérgio Ricardo Cavaliere de Medeiros, Lieutenant Colonel;
• Wladimir Matos Soares, agent of the Federal Police.

The role of “black kids” on the coup plan

The operational basis of the attempted coup, according to PGR, was focused on army special forces officers known as “black kids” – military -trained military personnel, according to the Special Operations Manual.
Among the accused are three members of this elite group, accused of planning kidnappings and murders of authorities, including Minister Alexandre de Moraes, President -elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Vice Geraldo Alckmin.

“This group of the criminal organization acted to press the Army Commander and the High Command, formulating letters and shaking colleagues for strength actions in the political scenario,” says PGR.

According to the agency, in addition to planning violent actions, the “black kids” also acted with psychological operations, such as the production of posters and pamphlets to keep the campaign mobilized in front of the Army HQ in Brasilia.

General Theophilo and the endorsement for the coup

According to PGR, the reserve general Estevam Theophilo, a former chief of the land operations command, has taken a central role in accepting to coordinate the institutional rupture, as long as Jair Bolsonaro signed the decree that would legally support the operation.

The complaint reports that this commitment was made without the knowledge of the then Army Commander, General Freire Gomes, who would have become “uncomfortable” to learn of the meeting between Bolsonaro and Theophilo at the Dawn Palace on December 9, 2022.

“The discomfort reported by Freire Gomes was due to the fact that General Theophilo had great prestige in the military, and his support for the institutional rupture plan meant, at that time, the possibility of consummation of the coup,” says PGR.

Plan to create chaos and justify state of siege

Part of the strategy, according to the testimony of Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, was to provoke intentional social instability to justify the decree of a state of siege. He revealed to the Federal Police that he was sought by the special forces military shortly after the 2022 elections.

“Two Lieutenant Colonels stated that something would need to be done to cause chaos and thus force the decree of the state of defense or site,” Cid said in his denunciation.

Letter to Press the High Command

The investigation revealed that group members prepared a document entitled “Open Letter to Officers”, addressed to the Army’s High Command, aiming to obtain explicit support to the rupture.

According to PGR, Jair Bolsonaro knew of the existence of the document. On November 26, 2022, Lieutenant Colonel Sérgio Cavaliere asked the then order assistant Mauro Cid if the president had been informed about the letter. The answer was affirmative.

Faced with the resistance of the formal command of the Armed Forces, the group began to organize meetings and campaigns to co -opt the adhesion of influential officers, says the accusation.
“To ensure the success of the criminal venture, those who have trained in special forces have decided to organize a meeting to develop pressure strategies about the retaining commanders,” says the PGR.

So far, the Supreme Court has accepted the complaints against 21 of the 34 accused in the inquiry of PGR. The current phase can significantly increase the number of defendants of the alleged coup plot.