Pro-Bolsonaro protesters storm Brazil’s Congress in capital

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who refuse to accept his electoral defeat stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace in the capital Sunday, just a week after the inauguration of his leftist rival, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Thousands of demonstrators bypassed security barricades, climbed on the roofs, broke windows, and invaded all three buildings, which are connected through the vast Three Powers square in Brasilia. Some are calling for a military intervention to restore the far-right Bolsonaro to power.

Images on TV channel Globo News showed protesters roaming the presidential palace, many of them wearing green and yellow, the colours of the flag that have also come to symbolise the Bolsonaro government.

The incidents recalled the January 6 invasion of the US Capitol, something many political analysts and the judiciary Bolsonaro have warned about for months. But, in this case, it is likely that Congress and the Supreme Court had limited personnel inside the buildings on a Sunday.

Bolsonaro supporters have been protesting against Lula's electoral win since October 30, blocking roads, setting vehicles on fire, and gathering outside military buildings, asking armed forces to intervene.

Many believed election results were fraudulent or unreliable.

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