The Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, handed over to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security a dossier with racist attacks, insults and threats that she received on social media and by email since the beginning of the week, following the episode in which one of her advisors mocked São Paulo fans – the advisor was fired because of the case.
In many of the threats and attacks, the name of Rio councilor Marielle Franco, Anielle’s sister, is mentioned. Messages such as “may you have the same ending as your sister” were replicated on Anielle’s networks, in reference to Marielle’s murder, in March 2018, in Rio de Janeiro.
The material sent to the Ministry of Justice shows messages received on social networks such as Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). The data of the profiles that sent the messages were attached. Upon handing over the dossier, the minister requested police protection while the threats continued.
Last Thursday night (28), the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, went to X to inform that the letter sent by Anielle had been received, and that the Federal Police had been called to take the appropriate measures immediately. .
Understand the case
The attacks against Anielle began last Sunday (24), when she participated, together with other State ministers, in an action by the Federal Government in partnership with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) to combat racism in football. The chosen stage was the Morumbi stadium, in the capital of São Paulo, where São Paulo faced Flamengo – Anielle’s team – in the decisive match of the Copa do Brasil.
The first criticisms of the minister came over the use of a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) plane to travel between Brasília and the capital of São Paulo. “It’s unbelievable that a minister is questioned for doing her work to combat racism and fulfilling her duty”, wrote Anielle on her profile on X last Monday (25), after the wave of unfounded attacks began.
The attacks intensified after screenshots of posts on social media by members of Anielle’s team who accompanied the minister to the stadium went viral. In one of them, Marcelle Decothé, who held the position of Head of the Special Advisory of the Ministry of Racial Equality (MIR), wrote: “White fans, who don’t sing, descendants of naughty Europeans… Everything worse from São Paulo.”
Given the repercussion of the case, the Ministry announced, last Tuesday (26), Decothé’s dismissal. “The server’s public demonstrations on its networks are in clear disagreement with the policies and objectives of the MIR”, explained the department, in an official note.
Editing: Vivian Virissimo
