Brazil insurrection: How so many people came to attack their own govt

Bolsonarism is a profoundly anti-democratic movement that conflates elements of the US far-right and Brazil's long history of social inequality and militarism into a whole new digital language

The storming of the three main symbols of the Brazilian republic – the supreme court, the national congress and the presidential palace – is the kind of event that could shape the country’s history. While Brazil has gone through military coups and social turmoil since it became independent in 1822, never before have Brazilians witnessed such widespread disregard for political institutions.

This is a story that starts around 2018, when Jair Bolsonaro – then a lacklustre congressman known for supporting the military dictatorship and publicly praising notorious torturers – launched his presidential candidacy. In the name of God, the fatherland