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In Violent Rio, US Protests Stoke Backlash Against Deadly Cops

Reuters

   The killing of another black teenager by Rio de Janeiro police last
   month was, based on the numbers, unremarkable -- one of hundreds gunned
   down every year by some of the world's deadliest cops.

   But the fallout has surprised many.

   Brazil's Supreme Court last week banned raids by Rio police during the
   COVID-19 pandemic and Sunday saw nationwide marches against right-wing
   President Jair Bolsonaro, as U.S. demonstrations and a global debate
   over racial violence by police has spurred a reckoning in Brazil.

   A studious 14-year-old who talked of becoming a lawyer, João Pedro
   Matos Pinto spent the afternoon of May 18 playing with friends around
   his uncle's backyard pool in São Gonçalo, a gritty suburb of the Rio
   state capital.

   When police helicopters began circling close overhead, the frightened
   boys rushed inside, João Pedro's mother and uncle told Reuters.
   Heavily armed police stormed the home, throwing a grenade inside and
   spraying the structure with gunfire.

   One of the bullets hit João Pedro in the torso, killing him.

   "When you enter a community shooting, it's as if everyone in the
   community is a criminal. It's as if nobody good lives here," said
   Rafaela Coutinho Matos, mother of the slain boy, in an interview.

   Authorities told her family the death was an accident, she said. They
   said helicopters spotted a man they thought was the target of a police
   raid hopping over a fence near the pool.

   In a statement, Rio state police said detectives had opened an
   investigation into the incident and three officers had been suspended.
   Brazil's federal police, which also participated in the operation, did
   not respond to a request for comment.

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