by WorldTribune Staff, January 8, 2023

Thousands of protesters and supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who has yet to concede defeat in the recent close election stormed national Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace Sunday, a week after the inauguration of leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Demonstrators bypassed security barricades, climbed on roofs, broke windows and invaded all three buildings in Brasilia calling for military intervention to remove Lula.

TV channel Globo News showed protesters roaming the presidential palace, many wearing the green and yellow colors of the national flag that also have come to symbolize the nation’s conservative activist movement.

The former president, who flew to Florida ahead of Lula’s inauguration, has made no public comment.

Television images showed protesters breaking windows inside Congress and the presidential palace.

Demonstrators unfurled a banner above the National Congress that read, “We want the source code,” referring to allegations of voting data fraud.

Police and Military have retreated from attempting to stop protestors who have overtaken the Supreme Court, the Congress building and surrounded the presidential palace in Brazil. Protest numbers are now growing into the tens of thousands. pic.twitter.com/gYJ3g78Z4e

— The Canadian Independent (@canindependent) January 8, 2023

HAPPENING NOW: Protesters in Brazil storm National Congress Building pic.twitter.com/61tHqDFB9k

— Jayne Zirkle (@JayneZirkle) January 8, 2023

HAPPENING NOW: Protesters in Brazil storm National Congress Building pic.twitter.com/61tHqDFB9k

— Jayne Zirkle (@JayneZirkle) January 8, 2023