May 2006 São Paulo violence

May 2006 São Paulo violence
DateMay 12–17, 2006
LocationSão Paulo (state) and other parts of the country
Result On May 17, state government takes control of the situation.
Belligerents

State of São Paulo

Gang

Commanders and leaders
Cláudio Lembo
Col. Elizeu Eclair Teixeira Borges
Marcola
Strength
100,000 cops (military and civil) unknown
Casualties and losses
30 cops dead
28 cops wounded
3 municipal guards dead and 8 wounded.
79 dead suspects
21 civilian deaths

The 2006 São Paulo violence outbreak began on the night of May 12, 2006 in São Paulo, Brazil, the largest city in South America. It was the worst outbreak of violence which has been recorded in Brazilian history and was directed against security forces and a few civilian targets. By May 14 the attacks had spread to other Brazilian states including Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais and Bahia (this without direct links to the PCC criminal organisation).

The violence began after forty São Paulo police officers were killed by gang violence. Subsequently, the police officers sought to find the gang members behind the criminal acts. In the process, a violent situation arose, creating a clash between law enforcement officials and criminals and taking the lives of over 150 people.

The wave of violence, which was among the worst of the Brazilian history, received broad national and international media coverage, and this fact allied to the lack of information from the São Paulo state government caused mass panic among the population. The state governor, Cláudio Lembo, was harshly criticized by the press for the slow response to the violence, for the absence of communication between the security forces, for the lack of information, to the press and the general public, and for poor management of the crisis.

The violence

Casualties*
Military Police 23 dead / 22 wounded
State Civil Police 7 dead / 6 wounded
Municipal Guards 3 dead / 8 wounded
Prison Guards 8 dead / 1 wounded
Prisoners 17 dead
Civilians 4 dead / 16 wounded
Suspected Criminals 79 dead
Total 141 dead / 53 wounded[1][2]
*as of 5/24/06

Since early Friday May 12, 2006 there have been 299 attacks against public establishments such as police stations, justice forums, buses, etc.; which are allegedly organized by the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) criminal organization.

The violence represents the bloodiest assault, worse than Rio de Janeiro, of its kind in the history of Brazil's richest state, São Paulo, and the news has reached the international media.[3][4][5][6] Related uprisings at 20 prisons across São Paulo were taking place Saturday, May 13. The attacks are not limited, however, to the state of São Paulo, as they have reached other states, such as Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná.

The attacks came in response to 7 imprisoned PCC leaders, among them, Marcos "Marcola" Willians Herbas Camacho, the leader of the criminal organization who allegedly ordered the attacks, being transferred and placed in solitary confinement in the Presidente Venceslau penitentiary. The practice was used by authorities to sever prisoners' ties to gang members outside prison.

The power of the PCC has been heightened in recent years by the availability of mobile phones inside their jail cells. The lack of surveillance to prevent prisoners from communicating with criminals on the outside allowed them a powerful tool to spread information and coordinate uprisings and attacks in the state. Measures are being discussed, in the future, they might either remove mobile phone service antennas from the districts with penitentiaries, or increase the quality of surveillance inside jail cells, with metal detectors and other tools that would assist in locating cell phones.

São Paulo's Military Police (Polícia Militar) is the main target of the attacks.

The waves of attacks were orchestrated by PCC leaders supposedly in jail, using said mobile phones, but it is arguable that the general chaos encouraged other criminals to take advantage of the situation.

The ministry of Justice, led by Márcio Thomaz Bastos, offered assistance by making available all federal security forces and the army, but São Paulo State Governor Cláudio Lembo said this is not necessary at the moment and that São Paulo can handle the situation without assistance.

May 15 was a very unusual day in São Paulo. This was the first work day after the attacks had been reported in the media, so the effects were now apparent as ever, with chaos marking the height of the attacks. On one hand, many people decided to stay home in fear of becoming a victim of violence. Also, one third of the public bus fleet stayed in the garages as they are a frequent target for attacks, being burned down and used to barricade streets and establishments. Consequently the residential neighborhoods were ghost towns, whilst the avenues were choked with traffic because of the lack of public transportation. The compulsory carpool law was lifted for the day. Those who did go to work decided to go home early and the roads were congested long before peak hours. The ensuing traffic jams is the greatest of this year (195 km or 122 miles) and that fear was spread to the population mostly due to the massive coverage by the media, who may have exaggerated the situation. In addition, many rumors of attacks and riots are being created by civilians. The situation now is "under control."

Timeline of the violence

Thursday, May 11

Friday, May 12

Saturday, May 13

Sunday, May 14

See also

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.