Bolsonaro supporters blocked from top court
• Supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gathered outside Congress in Brasilia on Tuesday to back the far-right leader in his dispute with the Supreme Court, exacerbating a conflict that has rattled Latin America's largest democracy.
On Monday night, hundreds of demonstrators dressed in the green and yellow of the Brazilian flag breached one police cordon and trucks honking horns advanced toward Congress.
They were blocked by police barriers then, and again on Tuesday, from reaching the Supreme Court, which some demonstrators have vowed to occupy in a protest modelled on the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-president Donald Trump.
The court has authorized investigations of Bolsonaro allies over accusations they attacked Brazil's democratic institutions with misinformation online. Bolsonaro has called the court-ordered probes a violation of free speech rights.
Congress and the courts also resisted Bolsonaro's attempt to introduce paper voting receipts as a backup to an electronic voting system which he says is vulnerable to fraud. The electoral court maintains the system is transparent and safe.
Bolsonaro urged government supporters to turn out in record numbers, hoping for an overwhelming display to offset his slipping support in opinion polls and setbacks in his clash with the judiciary.
“From now on I won't accept one or two people acting outside the constitution,” Bolsonaro said in comments to supporters on Tuesday morning, echoing his recent criticism of certain Supreme Court justices, before he donned the presidential sash and rode in an open Rolls-Royce to a military event marking Independence Day.
In Rio de Janeiro, along Copacabana Beach, rows of trucks draped in Brazilian flags parked along the esplanade, as yellow-clad bikers roared past, honking their horns.
“I'm here because I'm Brazilian and as a Christian. Today we have a president who believes in God and the family,” said Claudio Mattos, 44, wearing yellow face paint and a camouflage cap. He said he was an off-duty military police officer.
I WON'T ACCEPT ONE
OR TWO PEOPLE ACTING
OUTSIDE THE CONSTITUTION.
Bolsonaro's long-standing support among police and military rank and file has contributed to concerns that uniformed officers could take part in demonstrations or fail to contain potential excesses.
Critics fear the president is encouraging supporters to the point that they might try to invade the Supreme Court.
Brasilia security forces used tear gas outside the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday morning to deter a crowd heading toward the court.
Bolsonaro's critics say he is sowing doubts so he can challenge the results of next year's election, which opinion polls now show him losing to former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.