A man who tried to break into Brazil’s Supreme Court was killed in a series of explosions outside the courthouse in Brasília on Nov. 13, authorities said.
Two powerful blasts reverberated through the capital at about 7:30 p.m. after the session for the day finished and all judges and staff had left the building, the court said in a statement.
The explosions occurred about 20 seconds apart in Brasília’s Three Powers Plaza, home to the Congress and presidential palace, as well as the Supreme Court.
A police report seen by Reuters identified the man as Francisco Wanderley Luiz, 59, a former city council candidate from former President Jair Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party. Electoral records show that Luiz lost a race for city council in Rio do Sul, in the southern state of Santa Catarina, in 2020.
The police report said Luiz threw an object at the court building that caused no damage, then lay on the ground to blow up a homemade bomb in an apparent suicide. Police said he was wearing a green jacket and pants with playing card symbols.
The incident occurred five days before the G20 heads of state meet in Rio de Janeiro, an event that will be followed by a state visit to Brasília by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Before the suspect was identified, Celina Leão, lieutenant governor of Brazil’s federal district, said he had earlier detonated explosives in a car in a Congress parking lot.
No injuries were incurred in that instance.
“His first action was to explode the car. Then he approached the Supreme Court and tried to get in the building. He failed and then there were the other explosions,” Leão said at a news conference.
“It could have been a lone wolf, like others we’ve seen around the world. We are considering it as a suicide because there was only one victim. But investigations will show if that was indeed the case.”
Leão went on to recommend that Congress be shut on Nov. 14 to avoid potential further risks.
The nation’s Senate acceded to her suggestion and the lower house will be closed until midday on Thursday, speaker Arthur Lira confirmed.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as “Lula,” was not in the presidential palace at the time, his spokesman said.
The spokesman added that Lula was meeting at the presidential residence with Federal Police Chief Andrei Rodrigues and Supreme Court Justices Alexandre de Moraes and Cristiano Zanin on the evening of Nov. 13.
Police officers blocked off the area following the blasts, and the presidential security bureau conducted a sweep around the presidential palace and its surroundings.
No motive for the attack has yet been released to the public.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has become the object of ire to some in the country in recent years, with some Bolsonaro supporters believing the justices are biased against the former president, particularly de Moraes.
De Moraes, the nation’s top judge, was responsible for the controversial banning of X in Brazil on the grounds that the social media platform had been used to spread “disinformation.”
When the ban was introduced in August, he labeled X owner Elon Musk an “outlaw” and said that he was permitting “the massive spread of disinformation, hate speech and attacks on the democratic rule of law, violating the free choice of the electorate, by keeping voters away from real and accurate information.”
The ban was revoked last month after X paid 28 million reais ($5.1 million) in fines and agreed to appoint a local representative, which is a requirement under Brazilian law.
