Far-left supporters of socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday heavily vandalized two São Paulo subway stations after a pro-Lula rally in the Brazilian city, prompting the Brazilian Military Police (PM) to shut down the two affected stations.
On Sunday, the incumbent Brazilian president led a campaign rally on São Paulo’s iconic Paulista Avenue, one of the city’s most important streets. The rally was the main event in a series of similar demonstrations that the ruling far-left Workers’ Party (PT) organized across Brazil on Sunday as part of Lula’s presidential campaign ahead of the upcoming October 25 runoff election between Lula and conservative Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the race’s front-running candidate.
Lula was reportedly accompanied at the event by his Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, current and former ministers, and by some of the PT governors recently re-elected during the October 4 general elections. Poder 360 noted that it was not able to capture direct high-resolution drone footage of the rally in accordance with existing safety regulations that prevent the presence of drones in events where the president of the republic is present. According to Poder 360, the PT affirms that the São Paulo rally had a turnout of “one million.” However, the outlet estimates that, based on the actual dimensions of Paulista Avenue, the event would have a best-case scenario turnout of about 261,000 individuals.
Brazilian outlets detailed that, while no violent acts were observed during the São Paulo rally, the situation rapidly changed after a group of pro-Lula supporters vandalized the entrances to the Consolação and Trianon-Masp subway stations once the event was over. Footage of the violent acts shows some of the protesters standing above the station’s entrance while holding flags. The phrase “Long Live the Revolution” was sprayed atop one of the structures.
In remarks shared with local outlets, Brazil’s Military Police (PM) informed that it temporarily shut down the two affected stations in response to the acts of vandalism, a situation that heavily disrupted the regular flow of subway traffic in the area. Per the PM, the station’s doors and access gates were broken and “altercations” between a large influx of passengers and subway staff were reported. Viamobilidade, the private entity in charge of operating the São Paulo subway, informed CNN Brasil that it activated a series of emergency passenger flow measures in response to the protests with the support of the PM.
Additional footage of the violent acts shared by Poder 360 shows some of the protesters tearing and burning down American flags right at the vandalized subway station entrances. Insults against President Donald Trump were reportedly espoused by the protesters.
Neither Lula, the PT party, nor any member of the socialist president’s campaign has publicly commented on Sunday’s acts of vandalism at press time.
Senator Flávio Bolsonaro referred to Sunday’s chaotic events in a brief social media post, comparing the incidents registered in São Paulo to the American television series The Walking Dead while sharing footage of the events alongside the series’ main theme song. The footage also shows a significant amount of trash left at the Paulista Avenue by the pro-Lula supporters.
“Am I the only one who thought of ‘The Walking Dead’ on Av. Paulista?” Bolsonaro asked.
“My God, look at what Lula wants to turn Brazil into,” he added.
Similarly, the Liberal Party (PL), led by Bolsonaro, commented, “The PT vandalized SP [São Paulo]. It has never been so easy to choose a side.” The party’s official social media accounts shared a video of São Paulo PL City Councilor Lucas Pavanato noting that some of the rioters held both LGBT and Palestine flags — affirming that a homosexual person supporting Palestine is comparable to “Chickens for KFC.”
In his video, Pavanato recounted that Débora Rodrigues dos Santos, a Brazilian woman, was given a 14-year prison sentence for using lipstick to write a message during the January 8, 2023, riots. The councilor wondered if the same would occur to Sunday’s leftist rioters.
According to Brazilian outlets, the PL is organizing a pro-Bolsonaro rally on São Paulo’s Paulista Avenue for Sunday, October 18. Per UOL, TV Bandeirantes, in collaboration with other broadcasters and Jovem Pan, will hold a presidential debate on that same day between Bolsonaro and Lula — marking the first time that both candidates will face each other off in a debate after Lula’s continued refusal to participate in debates before he lost against Bolsonaro in the first round of the election.
While Bolsonaro defied all polls and defeated Lula during the October 4 first round, he did not obtain the required 50 percent majority of the votes to win outright in the first round — automatically triggering the upcoming October 25 runoff between the two candidates. According to the first round of polls released after the October 4 election, Sen. Bolsonaro remains ahead of Lula in the race.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
