Man arrested over explosive in Brasília seeks removal of references to Lula and Bolsonaro from statement
George Washington de Oliveira Sousa, 54, arrested on terrorism charges, stated at a hearing that he had requested the removal of references to both presidents from his police statement.
Accused of terrorism attempts to erase political references from police record
George Washington de Oliveira Sousa, 54, a petrol station manager arrested in flagrante for assembling an explosive device in a tanker truck near Brasília International Airport on Saturday (24), told the courts during a custody hearing held on Sunday (25) that he had requested the delegated officer responsible for the incident to remove from his statement references to both President Jair Bolsonaro and President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. According to reporting by cnnbrasil.com.br, the request was reportedly not fully complied with.
"At the police station, the only thing I reported to the officer and he put in the file, he put it in twice, was that I was against the name Lula, against Lula's election. I asked him to remove it and he got upset with me. We are in an act that is not about Lula's election, these were elections that happened in Brazil. He [the officer] also put down President Bolsonaro's name which I also asked him to remove, but I believe he did not remove it," Sousa declared during the hearing.
Arsenal and confessed ideological motivation
At Sousa's apartment, located in the Sudoeste neighbourhood in the Federal District, the Civil Police found an extensive arsenal: one AR10 rifle, two 12-calibre shotguns, 30 boxes of .357 Magnum ammunition, 39 boxes of 9 mm ammunition with ten rounds each intact, and two boxes of 50 nine-millimetre rounds.
In his statement, Sousa, charged with terrorism, confessed that the act had "ideological motivation". In the flagrante arrest record, he cited a phrase from President Bolsonaro as an incentive to acquire the arsenal, valued at R$ 160,000.
"What motivated me to acquire the weapons were the words of President Bolsonaro, who always emphasised the importance of civilian gun ownership, saying the following: 'an armed people will never be enslaved', and also my passion for weapons that I have had since youth," he said.
To the Civil Police of the Federal District, Sousa further declared that his intention and that of the group to which he belonged was to provoke a military intervention and the declaration of martial law to "prevent the establishment of communism in Brazil".
Preventive detention maintained by the courts
At the custody hearing, judge Acácia Regina Soares, with a favourable opinion from the State Public Prosecutor's Office, decided to convert the flagrante arrest into preventive detention — a modality with no time limit under law. The magistrate held that Sousa represents great potential for harm and that his release would constitute a risk to society, characterising it as a "situation of heightened risk to public safety". Sousa was transferred to the Papuda Penitentiary Complex on Monday (26).
Sousa's defence requested his release, arguing that he has a good criminal record and that the weapons found were already seized and out of his possession. The request was denied by the courts.
When contacted by cnnbrasil.com.br, the Civil Police of the DF stated that there is no update on the case and that "the investigation remains under the necessary confidentiality for the effectiveness of proceedings". The corporation added that it will inform the press once there are consequential actions from the operation or the conclusion of the police inquiry.
Source: Google News BR — São Paulo