Deport Ousted President Jair Bolsonaro

by Shaun King –

Almost two years to the day after the US insurrection on January 6th, conservatives in Brazil attempted a similar coup.

Conservative Brazilian supporters of recently ousted President Jair Bolsonaro, inspired by the January 6th insurrection in the US, attempted to take over the Congress, Supreme Court, and Presidential Palace in the capital of Brazil.

It was deeply motivated and encouraged by American conservatives as Brazilian conservatives in support of former President Bolsonaro, claiming election fraud took over multiple government buildings.

They openly encouraged it. Former Trump advisors like Steve Bannon and many others publicly admitted on their own platforms that they were advising Brazilians what to do after they just lost the election.

It will take weeks or months and tens of millions of dollars to clean it all up and repair the damage.

Bolsonaro literally ran from his crimes after he lost a free and fair election in Brazil. He was already under investigation for multiple crimes before the election and deliberately fled to Florida, where he knew he would have the protection not only of Donald Trump but Gov. Ron DeSantis.

It’s crazy that we are now living in a country where fascist criminals feel that they can come here and be protected.

Maybe they feel that way because they’re watching Donald Trump and seeing that he has yet to be truly held accountable for any crime he has ever committed.

But we need to hold Bolsonaro, and every American conservative who coached him, accountable—because conservatives in America had everything to do with what just happened in Brazil.

If you’re not familiar with him, Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro is a carbon copy of Donald Trump.

And let’s be clear: so much of this has to do with white supremacy and fascism exported from this country and Donald Trump’s influence.

When there is racism, bigotry, and ugliness in the United States, other countries, other leaders, and other groups will be inspired by, duplicate, and put that hate into action around the world.

The world saw the United States have an attempted coup and insurrection where people literally wanted to overthrow the government, hang the vice president, break into the offices, chase and maul police officers.

It was only a matter of time until we saw it happening around the world.

And American conservatives, who support and inspire white supremacist attacks in the United States, literally gave them a blueprint of how to carry out a violent, fascist insurrection.

We can’t turn our backs on that, because if we do it could happen again and again.

Jair Bolsonaro is an open bigot. He must be deported and extradited from Florida where he is currently hiding. Our government must send him back to Brazil and officials need to launch an immediate investigation into the Americans who coached Brazilian conservatives through all of this—including former Trump advisors Steve Bannon and Jason Miller.

Please take a minute to sign a petition calling on our officials to hold those responsible for this chaos and injustice accountable by extraditing Bolsonaro and launching an investigation immediately. Go to act.grassrootslaw.org/sign/Bolsonaro.

Shaun King is the co-founder of Real Justice, which has helped elect brave new District Attorneys all over the country. His daily podcast, The Breakdown, has become famous for its practical action steps for social good. He is a fierce advocate for families impacted by police brutality, white supremacy, and mass incarceration.