Some 28 cities in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in northeastern Brazil, registered a series of attacks orchestrated by a criminal group, with fires and shots against public offices, businesses and vehicles, authorities reported on Wednesday (03.15.2023). .
The state government works with the hypothesis that the riots were planned from inside the prisons, as a protest against the living conditions and the tightening of control measures in these institutions.
The attacks began early Tuesday morning in some 19 cities, including the capital, Natal, and, despite the strengthening of security, they have expanded since Wednesday to a total of 28, according to police sources quoted by the G1 news site.
Images disseminated by social networks and local media showed buses, trucks and other cars on fire, and police cars with bullet holes.
police reinforcements
“The State is firm, working (…) to restore normality to the people of Rio Grande do Norte,” Governor Fátima Bezerra told reporters on Wednesday. “All the measures are already underway,” she added.
Some 220 National Force policemen were sent to assist local forces, a number that may be increased “up to the number deemed necessary,” Public Security Minister Flávio Dino said on Twitter.
The police reported two deaths and two injuries since the start of the excesses, according to G1.
Suspected crime boss dies
One of the deceased is José Wilson da Silva Filho, 29 years old and head of the largest criminal faction in Rio Grande do Norte, who died on Wednesday when he clashed with police officers as they tried to arrest him, the force said in a statement.
“He was responsible for financing and distributing weapons for the group that carried out the attacks,” police said.
Some 30 people were arrested, according to a police report published by G1.
The violence is “a reaction of the so-called organized crime to the firm and assertive measures that the government of Rio Grande do Norte has adopted to control the prison system,” said Governor Bezerra.
Specifically, the inmates demand an improvement in the conditions in the prisons, such as televisions and intimate visits, said the secretary of state security, Francisco Canindé de Araújo to the UOL portal.
jc (afp, Tribuna do Norte, G1, Rádio CBN)
