The evangelical vigil called by senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) was marked by confusion on Saturday night, when evangelical Ismael Lopes, 34, asked to speak. The young man — who has 35,000 Instagram followers and claims to be a member of the social participation council of the Presidency of the Republic — read a biblical passage saying that “whoever digs holes in them will be swallowed”. .
Lopes is a member of the Front of Evangelicals for the Rule of Law, the same organization that organizes the events of First Lady Rosângela da Silva, Janja, with evangelicals in different states of the country. The boy has also represented the collective in at least one meeting of the Social Participation Council of the Presidency of the Republic, in December 2024.
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He is not a pastor and advocates progressive and left-wing causes on social media. On his Facebook profile, for example, Lopes chose as his cover image a red illustration with the faces of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, leaders of communism.
He often addresses political issues in videos posted on Instagram. In August, Lopes participated in a meeting with the then minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency Márcio Macêdo. The role of the department is to communicate between the government and civil society and social movements.
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Lopes also argues that “love for others is only possible with class hatred”:
“We believe that this love, as a Christian practice, must be directed to everyone indiscriminately. However, how is it possible to love and comply with a system that exploits work and steals the wealth produced by workers? God loves everyone, but the gospel is for the poor (Luke 4:18) and for the rich repentance and abandonment of their position of exploiter or damnation, as Mary sings in the magnificat (Luke: 46 to 56)”, says Lopes, in a post with the hashtag “comuna”.
Confusion in wakefulness
Immediately after reading, Lopes ran out and was chased and attacked by Bolsonaro supporters. The Military Police (PM) separated the evangelical’s attackers with pepper spray. He was then escorted into an app car. To the police, Lopes said he knew he was at risk of being attacked and that his act was conscious.
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The boy received punches and kicks, in addition to having one of the sleeves of the dress shirt he was wearing ripped. Flávio Bolsonaro asked those present at the event not to attack Lopes, but he was ignored.
The young man, who lives in Brasília, says he did not come in coordinated action from the Front, but that he warned movement leaders that he would try to speak at the Bolsonarista event. Lopes states that, in order to speak at the vigil, he presented himself as a representative of an evangelical movement that is present in 19 states.
