Rio’s Governor Says Police do Not Kill Innocent People, Only Criminals

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Police work to detain drug traffickers, they do not kill innocent people, affirmed Rio de Janeiro’s governor, Wilson Witzel, on Monday, May 27th.

“When I state we cannot stop fighting organized crime, some movements turn against me, saying that I am a fascist and an executioner,” Witzel told reporters.

“But the police do not shoot people at bars, the police do not kill innocent people,” added the governor alluding to the massacre which occurred in the São Gonçalo neighborhood on Sunday night when hooded assailants fired dozens of shots into a group of people at a bar, killing four.

According to Witzel, a feud between factions is enough for criminals to take to the streets to shoot at random, killing innocent people. “We do not want young people killed. We want young people saved, rescued. But against those who insist on confronting authorities and killing people, the police must act swiftly,” he said.

On Monday, the governor also announced the expansion of his security project to the Laranjeiras neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro’s Zona Sul within the next two months. The program will follow the model already implemented in the neighborhoods of Flamengo, Lagoa, Leblon, Ipanema, Tijuca, Méier, Center, and Lapa, where extensive police patrols will be carried out on foot, bicycles, motorcycles, and other vehicles.

Earlier this month, the Human Rights Commission for Rio de Janeiro state’s Legislative Assembly (Alerj) filed a complaint against the governor with the Organization of American States (OAS) due to his security policies.

The complaint questioned the helicopter flyby that Governor conducted over favela communities in the coastal city of Angra dos Reis, in the south of Rio de Janeiro state. Witzel released a video on social media in which he is in a helicopter, accompanied by policemen firing several shots from the helicopter into the communities below. At the time, the governor claimed that the operation was aimed at fighting criminals.