Thousands of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro supporters gave Nazi salutes as they urged the Brazilian military to intervene and keep Bolsonaro in power after he lost the re-election to Luiz Inacio da Silva on Wednesday.
Journalist Nathalia Urban tweeted a video of Bolsonaro's followers performing the Nazi salute saying, "Remember when Bolsonaro went to Israel and tried to say the Nazi movement was leftist, apparently his supporters didn't get the memo...This was today in the southern state of Santa Catarina."
CNN reported that the Federal Prosecutor's office in Santa Catarina State said in a statement that they are already working on identifying the people who gave the Nazi salute during the rallies.Remember when Bolsonaro went to Israel and tried to say the Nazi movement was leftist, apparently his supporters didn’t get the memo…This was today in the southern state of Santa Catarinapic.twitter.com/lkLU6xwzWc
— Nathália Urban (@UrbanNathalia) November 2, 2022
"Once identified, a report will be produced and the information will be forwarded to the Public Prosecutor for accountability of those involved," prosecutor Marcela de Jesus Fernandes said.
According to Brazilian law, "Manufacturing, commercializing, distributing or broadcasting symbols, emblems, ornaments, badges or propaganda that use the swastika or merchandise for the purpose of disseminating Nazism, there is a penalty of imprisonment from two to five years plus a fine."
On Tuesday, after a few days of silence, Bolsonaro delivered an official statement thanking those who voted for him and saying that he will not comply with the constitution. Bolsonaro didn't congratulate Lula in his speech.
Since then, Bolsonaro's followers have gathered in front of military facilities in major Brazilian cities to demand action.
Protesters set up roadblocks
Protesters have created roadblocks all across the country. Insider Paper tweeted a video of one of the roadblocks saying, "Truckers and other protesters on Tuesday blocked highways for the second day in support of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has yet to accept his election loss to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva."
ALERT: Truckers and other protesters on Tuesday blocked highways for second day in support of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has yet to accept his election loss to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva https://t.co/8AIjqSZ6Mv pic.twitter.com/AdSkVtY7Ui
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 1, 2022
Bolsonaro also said in a statement "peaceful demonstrations" are always welcome but that "our methods can't be the same as those used by the left, which always harmed the population, such as invasion of lands, disrespecting property and impeding the right to come and go."
According to Brazilian media, Brazilian police are having trouble removing all of the protesters.