Marielle Franco: politician’s murder sparks mass protests in Brazil
The human rights activist and vocal critic of police violence was gunned down in Rio de Janeiro
Tens of thousands of Brazilians have taken to the streets of Rio de Janiero to protest the murder of Marielle Franco, a city councillor and prominent human rights activist.
The 38-year-old and her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes, were gunned down in an apparent assassination on Wednesday night after leaving an empowerment event for black women.
Franco’s death has “reverberated across the city and beyond as thousands of people gathered at rallies, expressed their outrage on Twitter and wept openly in public”, the LA Times reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As a gay black woman raised in one of Rio’s poorest favelas, Franco “defied the odds” to win the fifth-highest vote count among council members when she was elected in 2016, The Guardian says.
She championed the rights of the most marginalised in Rio, especially poor women of colour and members of the LGBTQ community, and was a vocal critic of police violence.
A Rio public prosecutor who wished to remain anonymous said Franco’s killing appeared to be politically motivated.
“It is far too soon to say, but we are obviously looking at this as a murder in response to her political work, that is a main theory,” the prosecutor told Reuters.
Her murder comes just weeks after President Michel Temer ordered the army to take over security in Rio de Janeiro, following months of worsening gang violence.
Franco, who was part of a commission to oversee the military intervention, “harshly criticised the move” just days before her death, warning that it could worsen police violence against residents, Reuters reports.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Do youth curfews work?
Today's big question Banning unaccompanied children from towns and cities is popular with some voters but it is contentious politically
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Sleaze baack!'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 20 - 26 April
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
Do youth curfews work?
Today's big question Banning unaccompanied children from towns and cities is popular with some voters but it is contentious politically
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Sydney mall attacker may have targeted women
Speed Read Police commissioner says gender of victims is 'area of interest' to investigators
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Why are kidnappings in Nigeria on the rise again?
Today's Big Question Hundreds of children and displaced people are missing as kidnap-for-ransom 'bandits' return
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
How the idyllic Galapagos Islands became staging post in world drug trade
Under the radar Ecuador's crackdown on gang violence forces drug traffickers into Pacific routes to meet cocaine demand
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Armed gangs, prison breaks and on-air hostages: how Ecuador was plunged into crisis
The Explainer Gangs launch deadly revenge after president declares state of emergency following escape of feared drug boss from prison
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ecuador tips toward chaos amid prison breaks, armed TV takeover
Speed Read New President Daniel Noboa authorized the military to 'neutralize' powerful drug-linked gangs after they unleashed violence and terror across Ecuador
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Prague shooting: student kills 14 people at university
Speed reads Police believe suspect, who killed himself, may have shot his father before carrying out mass murder
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published