(Brasilia) One of Brazil’s top national security officials announced his resignation on Wednesday after being filmed inside the beleaguered presidential palace during the Jan. 8 riots in Brasilia.
CCTV footage shows General Marco Edson Goncalves Dias, head of the Institutional Security Office (GSI), interacting with protesters in the halls of the palace, apparently to “show them the way out”, according to CNN Brazil television. , who made them public.
In other of these videos, at least two GSI members are seen shaking hands with protesters, and handing them water bottles.
The footage was filmed on January 8 inside Planalto Palace, the seat of Brazil’s presidency, which was ransacked that day during riots aimed at overthrowing newly elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
General Marco Edson Goncalves Dias announced his resignation in an interview with the Brazilian channel GloboNews, but disputed CNN Brazil’s interpretation of these images.
He claimed to have “entered the palace after its assault and led people out of the 3rd and 4th floors so that the arrests could take place on the 2nd floor”.
He added on GloboNews that these images were taken out of context, calling them “absurd”.
The GSI, made up mostly of military personnel, advises the head of state on matters of national security and defense and is responsible for the personal security of the president, vice president, and their families.
After the riots, an investigation was opened against members of the army for their handling of security that day in Brasilia, and some were arrested.
Thousands of individuals refusing the defeat of the far-right ex-president stormed the Presidential Palace, the Congress and the Supreme Court, a week after the inauguration of the left-wing head of state Lula.
The attackers had easily crossed the security cordon to ransack everything in their path, including priceless works of art.
Jair Bolsonaro denies having had any role in the riots which led to the arrest of more than 1,800 people. But the former president will be questioned within ten days by the federal police in this case.
