 "A woman mourns over the bodies of people killed the day before during a police raid targeting the Comando Vermelho gang in the Complexo da Penha favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AP")
A massive public protest was staged in Brazil after the deadly and alarming massacre shook and horrified the residents of Rio de Janeiro. A police raid against drug gangs left 132 people dead entrenched in poor neighbourhoods.
Protest demanding Governor’s ouster
People led large public protests and asked for the removal of Rio’s governor. Dozens of slum residents gathered in the state’s government headquarters shouting “assassins!” and waving Brazilian flags stained with red paint.
The death tool shows that the favelas residents were targeted and were affected the most during the operation. According to news agency AP, Brazil’s Supreme Court, prosecutors and lawmakers asked Rio state Gov. Claudio Castro to provide detailed information about the operation.
A deadly massacre
A domestic worker from the Penha complex of favelas, Barbara Barbosa stated that this was a massacre. She also said that her son was killed in a prior operation in Penha.
An Activist, Rute Sales said, “Do we have a death sentence? Stop killing us.”
The residents living in the neighbourhood shouted “massacre” and “justice” before forensic authorities arrived to retrieve the remains.
Felipe Curi, Rio state police secretary, told a news conference that bodies of additional suspects were found in a wooded area where he said they had worn camouflage while battling with security forces. He said local residents had removed clothing and equipment from the bodies, in what would be investigated as evidence tampering.