One said to a municipal guard that ‘blacks had to die anyway’.
Note from BW of Brazil: Although this blog was created to give important media space to black Brazilian women and the situation of black Brazilians in general, which include everyday occurrences of a racist nature, one must really wonder, what is going on in Brazil as of late? In the past month, this blog has covered some incredible stories: There was the university law students’ “practical joke” photos depicting a chained woman in blackface wearing a sign that read “freshman Chica da Silva” being led by a white man in a chain; the same group also posted a photo of a man, apparently also wearing blackface makeup, tied to a post surrounded by three white people giving a Hitler Nazi salute (one wearing a Hitler inspired mustache). There was the black man who was stabbed by a neo-Nazi sympathizer. There was the white guy offering to “sell” his black acquaintance online. There was the 12-year black girl who was beaten up in the federal district for being black for being in the “wrong” area. And finally yesterday, there was the image of a self-proclaimed skinhead strangling a homeless black man. Today, there’s news of another attack, this time on an elderly black man. Is this really the image and reputation that Brazil wants for a country that will host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics? Below is how media outlets reported the latest incident.
The son of 71-year old car guard Benedito Oliveira, who was beaten up by three young men in the early hours of Saturday, April 6, in the city of Rio Claro in São Paulo state, is still trying to understand what motivated such brutality. “I still don’t know why. It’s terrible and we’re shocked even seeing it,” said electrician José Donizete Santana de Oliveira. Two young men were arrested and a third is still being sought. All are suspected members of a neo-Nazi group and one of the prisoners was said to have told a municipal guard that ‘blacks have to die anyway’.
The victim, who remains hospitalized in the Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (UTI or Intensive Care Unit) of the Santa Casa de Rio Claro Centro Médico (Santa Casa Medical Center in Rio Claro), had a cranial trauma and his health status is considered stable. “It’s still a little serious and we’re still waiting for the results of the tomography. His head was the most affected and it’s still hurting,” said Oliveira.
The doctor Hegberto Gustavo do Carmo said that Oliveira has a swelling on his brain and the medical team is waiting for a reduction in the swelling in the next 48 hours to make a diagnosis. “We did two scans and the second showed a reduction of swelling, but the swelling is there,” explained the doctor. Besides the trauma, the Oliveira has lesions on his face as a result of kicks to the head he received from the trio. “The lesion was due to the attack, which didn’t reach his chest or arm, only his head,” said the doctor.
Oliveira’s son José said doctors have informed the family that his father, if he survives, will still have aftereffects. “The attack was for an execution and we’re perplexed,” he said. The elderly man, who lives in Ipeúna, usually goes to Rio Claro to supplement his income by guarding cars in events and parties in the Santa Cruz district. “He is known there and never got mixed up in anything. This was the first incident,” said his son.
Racism
The two prisoners, a young man of 20 and another of 21, are from the southern state of Paraná and were in Rio Claro for work. Police said they had racist tattoos and police said they are suspected of being members of neo-Nazi group from Paraná. “He said he did not like blacks and blacks had to die anyway,” said municipal guard José Carlos Lopes de Barros. Although photographed, the names of the assailants have yet to be released by police. The accused had their edited photos published with a stripe across their eyes, usually a treatment for children and adolescents, as recommended by the Child and Adolescent (ECA). Their names, however, were not released.
In testimony, they denied being in the group and that they are only friends of people linked to that movement. Both will respond to accusations of serious bodily injury and mild injury, as a 57-year old man has also claimed to have been assaulted. The third suspect of the crime has yet to be found.
The two prisoners still have no lawyer and should be transferred to the penitentiary in Itirapina.
The case
According to the Municipal Civil Guard, around 2:30 am, guards received a complaint that a man had fallen onto a sidewalk and had been the victim of an assault.
Residents said the perpetrators were two youths who fled. They were found near the scene and taken to the police station. Along the way, they comments of intolerance like ‘Paulistas (people of São Paulo) are all stupid’, ‘poor people had to die’ and that ‘they didn’t like old people’.
Source: Afro Press, Meio Norte, G1
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