Escalation in the presidential election campaign: A supporter of Brazilian President Bolsonaro and one of his opponents, Lula, get into a fight. It quickly becomes violent. In the end, weapons are drawn, with a deadly outcome.
A good three weeks before the presidential election in Brazil, a supporter of President Jair Bolsonaro killed a supporter of his rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with an ax. As the police announced on Thursday evening, the 24-year-old Bolsonaro supporter and the 42-year-old Lula supporter got into a political argument on Wednesday on a farm in Confresa in the state of Mato Grosso.
The Lula supporter hit the Bolsonaro supporter first, police officer Victor Donizete de Oliveira Pereira said. The Bolsonaro supporter hit back. The Lula supporter then grabbed a knife, but the Bolsonaro supporter took the knife from him and attacked him with it. When the Lula supporter was already on the ground, the Bolsonaro supporter took an ax and hit his victim with it a total of 15 times.
The man then tried to hide the weapons and flee, Oliveira Pereira explained. However, he was arrested while going to a hospital for his own injuries.
The presidential election in Brazil will take place on October 2nd. In the polls, left-leaning ex-president Lula is currently in the lead ahead of right-wing incumbent Bolsonaro.
The election polarized the Brazilian population like never before in the recent history of the South American country. Because of the heated atmosphere, the police have already tightened security measures at campaign events. Both Bolsonaro and Lula wear bulletproof vests during their performances and avoid close contact with their supporters.
