Brazil’s former public security chief, Anderson Torres, has been arrested by federal police on his return to the country. He was in charge of security for the capital city of Brasília when thousands of rioters stormed Brazil’s Congress, presidential palace, and Supreme Court on January 8th. The Supreme Court had issued an arrest warrant last week, accusing Mr Torres of alleged collusion with the rioters and failure to act in his role as the capital’s security chief. The judge, Alexandre de Moraes, stated that Mr Torres’s “omission was amply proven by the predictability of the conduct of criminal groups and the lack of security that enabled the invasion of public buildings.”
Mr Torres denies any role in the riots and insists that his conscience is clear. The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has accused allies of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, of helping with the attack on the presidential palace. He has pledged to screen employees to improve security.
On Friday, the justice minister Flavio Dino announced that authorities would give Mr Torres until Monday to return to Brazil or face extradition. The police visited Mr Torres’s home and found a document that reportedly tried to reverse October’s election result. Mr Torres said the document was taken out of context, but did confirm that he would return to Brazil to defend himself, calling the riots the most bitter day of his personal and professional life.
Following the riots, Brazil’s judicial authorities have ordered the arrest of other top public officials, and the police commander, Fábio Augusto, was dismissed from his role. Additionally, the Supreme Court has agreed to include former president Jair Bolsonaro in its investigation of the riots. He has been accused of incitement and intellectual authorship of the rioting.
