Brazilians Protest Against Racism And Police Brutality

Thousands of Brazilians on Thursday took to the streets to reject police brutality and racism a week after a raid that left 28 people dead in Rio de Janeiro's Jacarezinho shantytown

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Under the slogan "No bullet, no hunger, no COVID-19. Black people want to live!" protesters demanded an end to discrimination against Afro-descendants and mixed-race people, who represent 55 percent of the Brazilian population.

"Blacks are the most killed by firearms, the most unemployed, and the least vaccinated. President Jair Bolsonaro has a genocidal policy against us," activist Dara Santana said.

"Justice for Jacarezinho shantytown," " Rebelling against genocide is fair," read hundreds of banners during the march, which occurred as a tribute to the day Brazil abolished slavery on May 13, 1888.

Rio de Janeiro's people are shocked by the Jacarezinho operation, where police allegedly aimed to dismantle a gang that recruited minors to commit drug trafficking, robberies, kidnappings, and murders.

The May 6 raid was the deadliest police operation in the history of the city, which is accustomed to violent raids in poor and mostly black communities.

In Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Brasilia, and Salvador de Bahia, citizens demanded the resignation of Bolsonaro, who praised the police operation that left dead bodies and pools of blood strewn throughout the community.