Thousands of Brazilians on Thursday thronged the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo to protest against racism and police brutality after 28 people were killed in an anti-drug raid in a Rio favela last week. The police operation was the deadliest ever carried out by the country’s security forces. According to witnesses, many of the victims were unarmed. FRANCE 24 reports from the Rio demonstration.
“In Brazil there is no death penalty, only in the favelas!” David Miranda, a federal deputy of the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) yells into his megaphone as he leads the thousands of mostly Afro-Brazilian demonstrators through the streets of Rio de Janeiro to protest against police brutality.
According to the United Nations, racism remains a structural problem in Brazil. Some 80 percent of people killed in Brazilian police raids are Afro-Brazilians.
“Two of my cousins died during a police raid,” one of the demonstrators told FRANCE 24. “Every day, the police come in the favelas to kill."
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