Brazil election turmoil: Flavio Bolsonaro has long-documented links to Rio de Janeiro police militias. The "police militias" in Rio are armed groups run by current and former police officers. They take control of the neighborhoods, charge the residents for "protection", gas, internet and transportation, operate land and kill people who disturb them. They are gangs in all but name. Flavio Bolsonaro's office employed the mother and ex-wife of militia chief Adriano de Noberga, a former police captain linked to a death squad. Flavio once presented Noberga with a medal. During this campaign, the press confirmed more. Flavio signed a 2024 appeal to the Supreme Court, seeking to exclude a police officer from a jury trial. This police officer was accused of killing Ana Clara Gomes Machado, a five-year-old girl, with a rifle while she was playing outside her home. Flavio represented the accused police officer pro bono (without costs). In 2025, Flavio Bolsonaro joined the defense team of four police officers accused of killing four people during an operation in Vidigal. The victims included a janitor and a delivery worker with no criminal record. At the Globo presidential debate, Flavio Bolsonaro defended the police officer accused of killing five-year-old Ana Clara Gomes Machado, directly in front of her mother, Cristian Gomes de Silva, who was sitting in the audience. He insisted the officer was innocent, blamed the violence on drug dealers and claimed the girl died during a shootout — an account her mother vehemently disputed, saying she witnessed her daughters' deaths and that no such shootout took place. To make matters worse, Flavio addressed the grieving mother on behalf of her dead daughters, in what critics perceived as a particularly cruel moment. Christian later called him a "monster" and accused him of fabricating a shootout instead of explaining why he chose to protect the officer. And there is Mario Canela.

Brazil election turmoil: Flavio Bolsonaro has long-documented links to Rio de Janeiro police militias. The "police militias" in Rio are armed groups run by current and former police officers. They take control of the neighborhoods, charge the residents for "protection", gas, internet and transportation, operate land and kill people who disturb them. They are gangs in all but name. Flavio Bolsonaro's office employed the mother and ex-wife of militia chief Adriano de Noberga, a former police captain linked to a death squad. Flavio once presented Noberga with a medal. During this campaign, the press confirmed more. Flavio signed a 2024 appeal to the Supreme Court, seeking to exclude a police officer from a jury trial. This police officer was accused of killing Ana Clara Gomes Machado, a five-year-old girl, with a rifle while she was playing outside her home. Flavio represented the accused police officer pro bono (without costs). In 2025, Flavio Bolsonaro joined the defense team of four police officers accused of killing four people during an operation in Vidigal. The victims included a janitor and a delivery worker with no criminal record. At the Globo presidential debate, Flavio Bolsonaro defended the police officer accused of killing five-year-old Ana Clara Gomes Machado, directly in front of her mother, Cristian Gomes de Silva, who was sitting in the audience. He insisted the officer was innocent, blamed the violence on drug dealers and claimed the girl died during a shootout — an account her mother vehemently disputed, saying she witnessed her daughters' deaths and that no such shootout took place. To make matters worse, Flavio addressed the grieving mother on behalf of her dead daughters, in what critics perceived as a particularly cruel moment. Christian later called him a "monster" and accused him of fabricating a shootout instead of explaining why he chose to protect the officer. And there is Mario Canela.