Brazilian President Bolsonaro: ‘Criminals Will Die In The Streets Like Cockroaches’

On Monday, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro spoke of his wish that legislators will agree with him to loosen the country’s criminal code in order to capture more criminals, saying, “These guys [criminals] are going to die in the streets like cockroaches, and that's how it should be.” He added, “We have to give a legal back up to the security people: civil, military, federal, road police.”

The Daily Mail added, “Bolsonaro said the 'unequal' battle against crime is hindered by policemen being prosecuted for shooting gangsters rather than given medals.”

According to Globo, the Rio de Janeiro Military Police Secretariat issued a statement asserting that "the operations of the Corporation are guided by prior planning and carried out within the law. In actions in conflagrated areas, the mission of the Military Police is primarily the arrest of criminals and the apprehension of weapons and drugs. Often, however, criminals opt for confrontation, starting the confrontation. When the police operation results in deaths or injuries, a Military Police Inquiry is opened to ascertain the circumstances of the fact … in relation to the numbers of the Institute of Public Security (ISP) for March, the most important is to highlight the 32% drop in intentional homicides, representing the lowest rate for the month in 28 years. The indicator lethality violent crime also decreased by 24% compared to March 2018.”

More