Brazil vows swift justice, arrests hundreds after backers of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro storm government

Rio de Janeiro — Brazilian authorities were picking up the pieces and investigating Monday after thousands of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro's supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace and trashed the nation's highest seats of power in what officials have called "terrorist acts." The protesters were seeking military intervention to either restore the far-right Bolsonaro to power or oust the newly inaugurated leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in scenes of chaos and destruction reminiscent of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

Rioters donning the green and yellow of the national flag on Sunday broke windows, toppled furniture, hurled computers and printers to the ground. They punctured a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting in five places, overturned the U-shaped table at which Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justice's office and vandalized an iconic statue outside the court. The monumental buildings' interiors were left in states of ruin.

On Monday, the heads of Brazil's three branches of government, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, acting Senate President Veneziano Vital do Rego, Lower House Speaker Arthur Lira and Chief Justice Rosa Weber all signed a joint statement condemning the collective actions of Bolsonaro's supporters the previous day as "terrorist acts."