A Democrat who helped lead the House January 6 committee’s investigation into Donald Trump and the efforts to overturn the 2020 election became one of the first US officials to respond to a massive protest in Brasilia, where supporters of ousted ex-president Jair Bolsonaro sought to reverse the transfer of power.
It was a chaotic scene that bore inescapable resemblances to the attack on the US Congress almost exactly two years earlier, possibly provoking the reaction from Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin.
“Democracies of the world must act fast to make clear there will be no support for right-wing insurrectionists storming the Brazilian Congress. These fascists modeling themselves after Trump’s Jan. 6 rioters must end up in the same place: prison,” he tweeted.
His remarks came hours before an official statement from Jake Sherman, director of the White House national security council.
“The United States condemns any effort to undermine democracy in Brazil. President Biden is following the situation closely and our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering. Brazil’s democracy will not be shaken by violence,” said Mr Sherman.
Joe Biden would later issue a statement as he toured the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas.
“I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil. Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined,” said the president.
Mr Raskin and members of the January 6 panel expressed similar concerns about whether or not Donald Trump and some of his closest advisers would be spared from criminal charges resulting from the attack on Congress. In the end, his committee referred Mr Trump and several others to the Department of Justice for several criminal charges, though the agency is set to make its own determination on that issue through the deliberations of a special counsel in the coming weeks and months.
“[W]e're setting a precedent for future attacks on democracy itself. And that's really the burden of our committee, to make sure that we prevent coups, insurrections, electoral sabotage and political violence in the future,” he said last month in an interview.
Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to US President Joe Biden, tweeted: “The United States condemns any effort to undermine democracy in Brazil. President Biden is following the situation closely and our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering. Brazil’s democracy will not be shaken by violence.”
The chaotic scenes in unfolding in Brazil were met with shock across social media, as initial reports indicated that at least some of the responding police and security forces were refusing to help contain the demonstrators as they ransacked the presidential palace, Esplanada dos Ministerios, and highest court.
Other police were seen being viciously assaulted by the rioters as they attempted to take control of the situation.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was not thought to be in the presidential palace today, and Congress was not in session due to the weekend. Mr Lula was actually inaugurated a week ago, making the exact aim of the protesters unclear.
Jair Bolsonaro ironically remained in Florida as the riot occurred, just a stone’s throw away from Mar-a-Lago where his political ally Donald Trump retreated after the January 6 attack.
Joaquin Castro, Mr Raskin’s fellow Democrat in the House, called for Mr Bolsonaro to face justice and not be “given refuge” by the US from Brazilian authorities’ attempts to potentially prosecute him.
