Threats, violence, and shattered glass: Reporting the Brazil insurrection

After watching a mob storm his country’s capital, Murillo Camarotto tells Caroline Tonks about the journalistic legacy of the chaos

Sitting in his apartment in Brasília, the capital of Brazil, Murillo Camarotto, spoke over Zoom about his experiences on 8 January 2023. A reporter at Valor Econômico, the largest fnancial newspaper in Brazil, he witnessed the insurrection by far-right followers of Jair Bolsonaro (the incumbent president) which was in protest against the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He had just been sworn into offce as President of Brazil only a week before. Camarotto bore witness to it all, following the protesters into the Supreme Court where he saw their anger and rebellion in full force.

nobody knew exactly how big it was going to be.

“I was watching a livestream on YouTube produced by Bolsonaro’s fans. They were showing that they were approaching the Three Powers Plaza. I was expecting a there were just observing the movement and doing nothing. Here in Brazil, the police are pretty sympathetic to Bolsonaro because he is a former member of the military. The police were there as people were invading Parliament and the Supreme Court, but they were only watching. They were doing nothing. They were talking with the protesters and taking selfes. These people were in a very comfortable situation to do all the things that they were about to do.

“It was a Sunday, and I was working from home. We had some information that there were Bolsonaro followers preparing a movement in the centre of Brasília, but common demonstration, but after a moment, they were invading Congress. I called my boss and I went over.

“Brasília is not a big city, so I was able to get there in about 10 minutes. When I got there, the frst thing I saw was that there weren’t many police. The offcers that were

“It was not easy for me to shoot videos or interview people. The Bolsonaro supporters used to be really violent against the press. If you say that you are a reporter or identify as a journalist, you will have many problems. They will probably beat you. I had to work, not openly talking to people, but just observing. I had to shoot some videos when I could. It was not an organic movement; they had some leaders who were giving orders.

“When we were approaching the Supreme Court building, one guy said, ‘No videos here!’, so in order to keep myself secret, I didn’t shoot at that moment. I tried to use the opportunities that I had to take notes or take videos.

“The Supreme Court was the main target. During the Bolsonaro term, he used to fght a lot with the judges in the Supreme Court, and because of that his followers hate them. It was their main target of destruction. The most powerful hate would be there. I approached the building and I was there the moment they got in and started destroying everything.

“Since it was Sunday, there was no one inside. [In the week] they wouldn’t have been able to get inside. There would have been reinforced security. If it did happen though, it would be very scary. They could have done terrible things: beating or even killing people.

“It’s not easy to describe perfectly what I was seeing because it brings mixed feelings. There were many old ladies, like my own grandmother. These people had a lot of hate, destroying things and carrying the chairs and tables, lighting fres, and breaking doors and windows. At the same time, they would stop and pray. The Bolsonaro supporters are linked to our Protestant Church here in Brazil. He got an important part of his votes from these religious people. They used to cry at the same time. Cry, pray, and destroy.

“I never imagined that they were trying to take power. These people were used by Bolsonaro and his social networks for a movement that had no specifc goal. They were not organised. It was a mess of destruction and hate. They never imagined that they would stay there and take power; that something important was going to happen. They were trying to use the violence to show their satisfaction with the result of the election. They were not dreaming that they would take power, that was my impression.” was beaten and kicked. They said that she was going to die. It was horrifc. As I was suspecting, she tried to talk to people and since the beginning, I was aware that that was going to be pretty impossible. I would not have had a good result. When I talked with her, she told me that she tried to interview a lady, and when they were talking someone approached and said that she was a reporter.

“Another reporter had a big camera and tried to take photos of the people. On his camera he had a tag from the newspaper he works for, Folha, the most important paper in Brazil, and the Bolsonaro followers really hate Folha. When they saw that he had a tag from there, they destroyed the camera.”

Repercussions for the rioters

“I was concerned that people would fnd out I was a journalist. I met with another colleague of a different newspaper and she was running. I needed to send information to the newsroom, so I had to stop and write something. I needed fve or ten minutes to do that, but I would go to a place where nobody could see what I was doing.

“If I was there with my phone, writing a quick report, and someone saw me writing and said, ‘He’s a journalist! He’s sending news!’, then I would have had problems. I tried to be really cautious.

“After that, I had information that two or three colleagues were identifed by the protestors and were beaten. One photographer had his equipment stolen and broken and another colleague who was reporting for The Washington Post was surrounded by a large group of people and

“The riot on January 8th was the last chance that Bolsonaro’s fans had to do something. The repercussions were pretty bad for them. More than 1,000 people were put behind bars. I think today, we have more than 600 still in prison. It was terrible for them.

“After that, I can’t say that these people disappeared, but they are pretty scared by the power of the law. Many people that were there that day, the rioters, seemed to not know exactly what they were doing, and about the repercussions. They were committing crimes.

“For me, this was really important. The power of misinformation. These people were changed by Bolsonaro’s networks for years. They were in a situation where they thought they could do anything and nothing would happen. On that day, they discovered the power of the law.

“The day after, I went to the front of the prison to see this group of people coming in buses and going to be put behind bars. It was pretty clear to me that many people seemed to not understand why this was happening. ‘I was protesting!’ ‘I was patriotic!’ ‘I am not a criminal!’ Many people really didn’t know the size of what they were doing.” a very radical Bolsonarist and he left the newspaper. But he worked with us for ten years. He knew that we were doing serious most part, his staff used the same behaviour. It’s impossible to trust someone.

“It’s really diffcult to cover a government and administration as a political reporter in this kind of environment. Because we are working on a sinking ship. We are always viewed as enemies so it’s diffcult to cover the government regardless of your political preference.

“It’s impossible to say a specifc number, but I can assure that most people left their homes from other parts of the country and travelled two or three days in a bus to do this. These people were fed by Bolsonaro’s social media. Most people did this because they were fed misinformation by social media and fake news.

“It’s diffcult to talk to people that are living in this environment because no matter the way you show or try to tell the reality, or show the facts, it simply doesn’t matter. These people who if you say the sky is blue, they say no it’s your opinion. ‘My opinion is different. I don’t trust you. I trust in my friends and my leader and my group.’ It’s very frustrating.

“Here in Brazil, it’s very similar to the United States where when you bring up arguments, you can’t discuss your own opinions. For example, we had a colleague here at my newspaper, not a journalist, but a guy on the illustration staff. This guy became work. When we were talking about politics, he completely changed his mind and said that I was a liar and against Bolsonaro. It’s impossible to work with people like this.”

“We had a few situations that were scary with Bolsonaro fans. Even on the streets when Bolsonaro would talk or have demonstrations, it’s diffcult to get in and cover. Many media companies here stopped using identifable equipment on the streets.

“It’s diffcult to fnd a Bolsonaro follower who is willing to talk and have an honest chat. It is diffcult to fnd these people to talk with me. I am pretty curious about these people: their beliefs, why they’re acting like that.

“It is important to say Bolsonaro tried to mimic Trump multiple times. Since the beginning of the government, many things that Bolsonaro said and did were very similar, if not inspired, by Trump. Until the people tried to break in and spark the protests, we were not thinking about that, but in the moment, yes completely.”

“In Brazil, Uber drivers are mostly fans of Bolsonaro. So, when I am in Ubers, I try to talk. I don’t say my preferences and I try to make it seem like I am a frustrated Bolsonaro fan. I try to extract some information from these people. But if I identify that I am a journalist, they say they will not talk with me and that I am not honest. That I am fake news.

“During Bolsonaro’s term of four years, it was frustrating. Sometimes diffcult because they used to only put information out to friendly media or social networks. For the

“I would like to talk more with these people because I think that for journalists, it’s important to know what these people are thinking because, in my opinion, all actions have explanations. You have to discover why these people are acting the way they do. To extract that information, you sometimes have to fake that you’re on the same side.”