Lula rally damage prompts opposition to question whether justice will be even-handed

Lula rally damage prompts opposition to question whether justice will be even-handed
A rally supporting President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo ended amid reports of vandalism at metro stations and allegations that women were assaulted or threatened. The competing accounts agree that damage occurred; they differ sharply over what it should mean politically.

According to reporting citing São Paulo’s Public Security Secretariat and Military Police, there were disturbances, graffiti and damage near Paulista as demonstrators left the event. Doors and access gates at Consolação station were broken, and police said there were confrontations with staff before the situation was brought under control. Footage from Trianon-Masp station showed people standing on a glass-covered entrance, where the words “Viva a Revolução” had been painted.

The same report relayed allegations from right-wing activist Tamires Cardoso, who said she was attacked after she and a friend displayed a cardboard image of Flávio Bolsonaro. “I was assaulted, punched, kicked,” she said, adding that people tried to take her phone. Another woman was reported to have faced sexist insults and threats while being escorted away by police.

Opposition politicians treated the episodes as a comparison point with the January 8, 2023 attacks on government buildings in Brasília. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro shared footage of damage at Trianon-Masp and asked: “Am I the only one who remembered The Walking Dead?” Congressman Nikolas Ferreira argued that those involved would not receive sentences comparable to those imposed in January 8 cases, while Carlos Bolsonaro questioned whether the justice system applies “different criteria depending on the political side.”

A social-media post by commentator Rodrigo Constantino focused instead on the rally’s political symbolism, claiming that Brazilian flags were absent and that red banners dominated. That interpretation goes beyond the official accounts, which described property damage and disorder but did not assign a political motive.

Lula’s campaign said more than 1 million people attended. Military Police had not released an official crowd estimate, according to the report.

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