“Wild, wild Rio!”: Did Military Police kill six in revenge for police death?

Note from BW of Brazil: Sad…just sad. What else can one say about this type of violence? In an ongoing war between “alleged” drug dealers and Military Police, another exchange of bullets claims the lives of several people. Revenge murder is actually nothing new in Rio but the question one must ask is how is it that the government continues to let these senseless types of murders continue to go on? A “war on drugs”, right? There are bad people in those slums, right? But why is it that it’s always the slum where the police indiscriminately fire on people? Of course I’m not suggesting that anyone in a middle class neighborhood (who residents are often customers of illicit drugs) be violently murdered in this way, but why are the lives of poor, predominantly black people deemed to be less valuable? (See here, here or here for only a few examples) Sometimes it seems as if the law simply doesn’t exist in Rio and in Brazil in general. “You kill one (or two) of ours, we kill one (or six) of yours!” Sounds like “Wild, wild Rio” to me. What say you?

Social network page attributed to the Military Police praises deaths in a favela in Rio and speaks of ‘response’

The Facebook page, allegedly linked to the women’s wing of the corporation, published images of the dead in an operation from Tuesday

A Military Police (MP) operation on Tuesday morning (February 4), in the Juramento favela, in Vicente de Carvalho, in north of Rio de Janeiro, left six suspected of connections with drug trafficking killed, two others injured and two police officers grazed. But what sparked controversy in social networks was the connotation that a Facebook page allegedly linked to a women’s wing of the corporation, given as a settlement recorded by the MP.

Entitled PMERJ FEM, the page on the social network posted a strong image of five fallen and bloodied bodies on the ground of the community with the following text: “the response to the death of SD Alda and SD Rocha, both killed last weekend, is being given. Don’t denounce. You don’t like it, hide.”

“SD Alda” is the soldier Alda Rafael Castilho, who was shot dead last Sunday after a Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora (UPP or Pacifying Police Unit) attack of the Parque Proletário (Proletarian Park) in the Penha complex, also in north of Rio. According to statement of the corporation, this was the aim of the operation of the day: to find the criminals who attacked and killed a police officer.

According to a UPP spokesperson, Alda Rafael Castillo, 22, who worked at the base of the Parque Proletário (Proletarian Park), was shot in the abdomen. She was taken to the Getúlio Vargas State Hospital (HEGV) and died in the operating room.

During the exchange of fire, a couple passing by was shot. According to information from the police headquarters of the Getúlio Vargas State Hospital, Elaine Marques Ribeiro Mariano, was shot in the head and is hospitalized in the care unit in critical condition. Antônio Marcos Travassos was wounded in the leg and has already been discharged.

According to the UPP, the confrontation started around 3pm on Sunday, February 2, when police performed a patrol on the Estrada José Ruças (Highway), located in Proletarian Park. On the occasion, armed criminals got out of a white Gol and started shooting at the officers.

In addition, soldier Rogério Rocha dos Santos Júnior (“SD Rocha” in the publication), was also killed on Saturday evening by criminals in an attempted robbery in Marechal Hermes, also in the north of Rio.

The post with the bodies generated some comments to the contrary. A commenter retorted that “when your family dies, I want to see you say all of this. Did you see firearms? Did you see drugs? How do you know if they are bandits?”. Another message said simply: “I don’t understand these people who come here to give a human defense. A good bandit is a dead bandit.”

The Terra website contacted the press office of the Military Police to know the reason for the publication of the image and the main objective: if the page has some kind of direct connection with the corporation. At 7.18pm, via email, the PM issued the following note:

“The Military Police informs that it totally rejects the exploitation of images of wounded criminals taken by the PMERJ FEM page, which incidentally is not the official channel of the corporation. Command reiterates its commitment to human rights and legality of operations. On Tuesday morning an investigation was made at the scene of the confrontation between police and suspects in the Morro do Juramento. Police weapons were handed over for ballistics.”

Four rifles, two pistols, five 556 carriers, six 9 mm carriers, five grenades, a vest bulletproof and drugs were seized. The material was to be forwarded to the 27^th Police District. The action continues.

In the Rola e Antares community, the 27th Military Police Battalion (Santa Cruz) arrested two men, seized a pistol and a backpack with drugs. Two suspects were injured and sent to Hospital Pedro II.

Residents of Complexo do Alemão have experienced a wave of violence in the region. In recent months, criminal attacks have been constant. On Saturday (1), three vehicles were found burned, next to one of cable car stations, an area often frequented by tourists.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday (28), residents of Complexo de Favela Alemão were frightened with intense shootouts elsewhere in the community. During the attacks, a grenade was thrown at the 45^th Precinct, which has run inside the Itararé Cable Car Station since December 2013.

The unit was riddled with rifle bullets. In addition, UPP facilities and Military Police containers, were also targeted by criminals.

Source: Manchete Online, Terra, Terra (2), Black Women of Brazil