On a visit to the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj), Governor Claudio Castro suggested that those killed in Complexo do Salgueiro, in São Gonçalo, were not doing ‘good things’.
Nine people died after clashes with police over the past weekend. According to expert reports, six of them were wearing camouflage clothing, typically adopted as a drug trafficking uniform in Rio de Janeiro communities.
“Guys, no one is a child here. Nobody goes undercover in the mangrove to exchange shots with the airsoft police. If he was completely dressed in camouflage, shooting with the police in the mangrove swamps, he certainly wasn’t doing a good thing”, suggested Castro at a press conference with journalists after the delivery of the Ordinary Law of the Civil Police to the plenary of Alerj.
Airsoft is a sport shooting practice modality with non-lethal weapons. The modality is similar to paintball with plastic shells instead of real bullets. The weapons used, however, are very similar and even reproductions of lethal weapons.
“We always support the police, but obviously they don’t support the mistake. So it is being investigated by the civil police and, if it was wrong, any individual agent will be punished. I doubt that there is an institution that punishes both theirs and the police in Rio de Janeiro. So the police have punished those who do wrongs in an exemplary way”, added Castro.
Castro went to Alerj accompanied by the secretary of Civil Police, Allan Turnowski, who adopted a more moderate tone in relation to the case.
“In the end, we will have an investigation that will say if all those who were there, the reasons they were there at that time, why they were camouflaged, why the people who were not camouflaged were in the mangrove, what they were doing there at that time , so we have to wait, I always ask to wait for the investigation so that we can take a stand,” he said in response to the CNN Brazil.
The police operation in Complexo do Salgueiro, which ended with ten deaths, including nine civilians – including a minor – and a military police officer is being investigated by the Military Police, the Civil Police and the State’s Public Ministry.
“I think the moment is to produce technical evidence for us to understand what happened there. If the police are wrong they will always be punished and if they are right they will always try to improve, qualify themselves so as not to make mistakes”, said the secretary.
Reference: CNN Brasil
