One of Brazil’s top national security officials has resigned after the disclosure of videos of him at the scene of the January 8 attacks on the capital Brasilia.
General Marco Edson Goncalves Dias, head of the Institutional Security Bureau [GSI], submitted his resignation on Wednesday after CNN Brasil broadcast images from security cameras showing Goncalves Dias at the Planalto Palace, one of the federal buildings ransacked by protesters earlier this year.
The protesters were seeking to restore defeated former president Jair Bolsonaro to power, just days after he left office.
In the clips released by CNN Brasil, Goncalves Dias is seen moving through the corridors of the building — home to the official office of the president — interacting with protesters and apparently “showing them the exit.”
Videos also showed at least two GSI officials shaking hands and giving water bottles to the protesters, who stormed federal buildings in a failed and largely disorganised bid to overthrow the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who succeeded Bolsonaro.
Goncalves Dias disputed CNN Brasil’s interpretation of the videos.
“I entered the palace after it was raided and was removing people from the third and fourth floors so that the arrests could take place on the second floor,” he told the GloboNews television channel.
He said the videos of the soldiers distributing water were taken out of context.
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Rampage aftermath
Thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed the halls of power in Brasilia in January, a week after Lula took office.
In scenes reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 riots in Washington by supporters of ex-president Donald Trump — Bolsonaro’s political role model — they trashed offices, vandalised artworks and called for the military to intervene to oust Lula.
In the aftermath of the attack, members of the military have been investigated for the handling of security in Brasilia on January 8, and some have been arrested.
Ahead of the October 30 election, the ex-president trotted out what experts say were baseless claims of election fraud, but has denied involvement in the planning of the attacks.
More than 1,800 people were arrested over the events of January 8.
They include Bolsonaro’s former justice minister Anderson Torres, who was Brasilia’s public security chief at the time of the riots.
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