Protestors of Police Brutality in June. Photo by Dikran Junior via APWhen the Black Lives Matter movement saw a resurgence in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, it had international reverberations. In Brazil, thousands protested over the death of a 14-year old Black boy by police in May and have continued to protest police brutality.
Last week, João Alberto Silveira Freitas, a Black man and father to four, died after he was beaten by two supermarket security guards in the city of Porto Alegre. The guards, who worked at French chain Carrefour, were white. The murder happened on the eve of Black Consciousness Day, a national holiday that is a celebration of Black people and culture. A series of protests erupted in the aftermath and in São Paulo protestors even smashed in windows of a Carrefour.
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In Brazil, Black and mixed-race people are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement- they make up 74 percent of victims of police violence even though they are just 57 percent of the country’s population.
Carrefour Brazil released a statement expressing regret over 40-year-old Freitas’ “brutal death” and has also taken some steps to mend relations, including ending its contract with the security company, firing the store manager on duty, and closing the store where the incident occurred.
Police have detained the guards and are investigating them for homicide, while it has been confirmed that one of the men involved was an off-duty temporary military police officer which has only fueled further public outrage.
