Brazil: Video of a military police officer throwing a man off a bridge sparks outrage in Sao Paulo

CNN
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A military police officer was arrested in Brazil after a video emerged Monday of him throwing a civilian over a bridge in Sao Paulo, sparking protests in the city.

The video, which was shared widely on social media and in the Brazilian press, showed an officer grabbing a civilian by the shirt and leading him to the edge of a bridge. Moments later, the officer picks up the man – who appears to be unarmed and offers no resistance – and pushes him over the edge.

CNN could not independently verify the video.

The state Department of Public Affairs said in a statement released Tuesday that the incident was “appalling and completely unacceptable.”

“There is no other way to classify the images of the moment a military police officer throws a man from the top of a bridge,” the State Department said, adding that the video “obviously shows that the suspect was already subdued.” . by security officers whose functional task was to bring him unharmed to the police station so that the incident could be recorded.”

An arrest warrant has been issued for officer Luan Felipe Alves, who was taken into custody early Thursday, state media Agencia Brasil reported. The Sao Paulo military court later ordered him to remain in preventive detention while investigations into the incident continue, Agencia Brasil added.

According to CNN Brasil, Alves told the military court that his goal was to immobilize the man for evading police action and to throw him on the ground rather than over the bridge.

The man is believed to have survived the fall and authorities are currently looking for him for questioning, according to Agencia Brasil.

It’s unclear what charges Alves might face, but his legal team said in a statement that his arrest “shows that there is a presumption of guilt.”

“The police officer is at the disposal of the courts, but the preventive detention was only a response to a social outcry,” said the statement, obtained by CNN Brasil. Alves’ legal team also told CNN Brasil that his arrest “does not meet requirements” and they plan to seek his release.

The state’s military police have relieved several officers, including Alves, of their primary duties while the incident and the officers are investigated, Agencia Brasil reports.

“I have ordered the immediate removal of the police officers involved in this deplorable scene,” Sao Paulo state Public Security Minister Guilherme Derrite said in a video post on X on Tuesday, adding that “this type of attitude” is different from the military police mission.

The incident struck a nerve in the city, where public anger was growing over police violence, including an incident in which an off-duty police officer killed a man for allegedly stealing soap from a market, Reuters reported.

According to Reuters, protests against police violence broke out in Sao Paulo on Thursday, with demonstrators demanding Derrite’s resignation. “We really need our voices to be heard. We have to fight more and more. We must take to the streets to expose the police who are so violent in Sao Paulo state and Brazil,” a protester told Reuters.

In an interview with CNN Brasil, Sao Paulo Military Police Commander General Cássio Araújo de Freitas said his Internal Affairs Department was investigating incidents of alleged police violence.