The Brazilian riot was not inspired by January 6

On Sunday, over 1,000 supporters of Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, stormed the seat of the country’s government in the capital city of Brasilia. Claiming that last year’s election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was illegitimate, the rioters demanded a military intervention to reinstate Bolsonaro, who has yet to recognize his electoral defeat to da Silva, the leader of Brazil’s Workers’ Party. Bolsonaro has been in Florida since before the current president’s inauguration on January 1.

Twitter soon became flooded with images of shattered windows and flag-waving ruffians who, clad in the yellow jerseys of the national soccer team, plundered the insides of Brazil’s Congress, the Planalto presidential palace, and several ministries. Without delay, the global media began to feel reverberations of the Trumpist insurrection of January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

“Brazil capital riot echoes Jan. 6,” quipped MSNBC. “Bolsonaro supporters storm Brazil’s Congress, echo Jan. 6 invasion,” Newsweek reflected. “In echo of Jan. 6 attack in U.S., Brazilian protesters storm their Congress, high court and palace,” added USA Today.