More than 600 people were killed by police in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state in the first months of this year, and most were black or biracial.
The raid sought to halt gang recruitment of teenagers, police said in an earlier statement, which also cited Comando Vermelho’s “warlike structure of soldiers equipped with rifles, grenades, bulletproof vests.”
Television images showed a police helicopter flying low over Jacarezinho as men with high-powered rifles hopped from roof to roof to evade officers.
Others didn’t escape.
One resident told the Associated Press how a man barged into her modest home about 8 a.m. bleeding from a gunshot wound. He hid in her daughter’s room, but police came rushing in right behind him.
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U.N. Calls For Investigation As Police In Brazil Kill At Least 24 In Rio Drug Raid
By Scott Neuman
May 7, 2021
A police raid aimed at alleged drug traffickers that left at least 25 people dead in a shootout in a Rio de Janeiro slum has drawn criticism from the United Nations human rights office, which is calling for an independent investigation, citing a history of “disproportionate and unnecessary” use of force by police in Brazil.
Helicopters and a contingent of some 200 heavily armed police officers on Thursday descended on the crowded, poor and mostly non-white community of Jacarezinho – one of the city’s largest slums, which is largely controlled by one of the country’s leading criminal gangs, Comando Vermelho, or Red Command. Witnesses described the operation as a terrifying firefight, with suspects leaping from rooftops.
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Rio police accused of executing suspects in raid
The United Nations human rights office has strongly criticised a police raid against suspected drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro, amid allegations of abuse and extrajudicial executions.
Residents of Jacarezinho, one of the city s largest slums, say police killed suspects who wanted to surrender and entered homes without a warrant.
Police have denied any wrongdoing.
The deadliest police operation in the city s history has left 25 dead, including a police officer.
Vast areas of Rio de Janeiro, one of Brazil s most violent cities, are under the control of criminals, many of them linked to powerful drug-trafficking gangs.
The deadliest police operation in 16 years for the state which has suffered drug-related violence for decades
Reuters
May 07, 2021
Residents react after policemen removed a dead body during an operation against drug dealers in Jacarezinho slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil May 6, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS
RIO DE JANEIRO:
At least 25 people were killed in a shootout between suspected drug traffickers and police in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, one of the state s deadliest police raids, police said.
People targeted in the raid in the poor Jacarezinho neighborhood tried to escape across rooftops as police arrived in armored vehicles and helicopters flew overhead, television images showed. The firefight forced residents to shelter in their homes.