Crying, chanting and screaming in anger, thousands on Thursday gathered in front of the Rio de Janeiro state legislature to say goodbye to a black female councilor shot in the head four times, a brazen murder that shocked Brazil and raised questions about the effectiveness of a military intervention in the nation’s second-biggest city.
Marielle Franco was slain on Wednesday night while returning from an event focused on empowering young black women.
Her death touched a nerve in Latin America’s largest nation, where more than 50 percent identify as black or mixed-race, yet most politicians are white men.
Photo: AFP
A police official said that 38-year-old Franco appeared to have been targeted by perpetrators who knew exactly where she would be sitting in a car with tinted windows.
The official agreed to reveal the details only if granted anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
In the attack in the Rio neighborhood of Estacio de Sa, Franco’s driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes, also was killed and her press officer, Fernanda Chaves, was injured.
“They are trying to silence our voice, the voice of all black women in this country,” said Larissa Neves Lago, one of those mourning Franco.
“Marielle is here. Today and forever,” some in the crowd chanted.
Elected in 2016, Franco was a member of the left-leaning Socialism and Liberty Party, known for her social work in poor and marginalized favelas and for her outspokenness against police violence, which disproportionately affects black residents.
Just last weekend, Franco lamented on social media what she alleged were police killings.
“Another homicide of a young man that could be credited to the police. Matheus Melo was leaving church when he was killed. How many others will have to die for this war to end?” she wrote in her final Twitter post.
Franco grew up in Mare, an area of northern Rio with a warren of favelas that sometimes erupt in violence.
Her rising star status in politics was notable in a nation where upward social mobility, particularly for blacks and others from marginalized neighborhoods, is rare.
Protests were planned in several cities on Thursday and Franco’s party called for a march in Rio yesterday.
As news of the attack spread on Thursday, several thousand people gathered in front of Rio’s city hall.
In the afternoon, thousands followed as the coffins were carried to their respective burial sites.
Human rights groups and the UN offered condolences and demanded full investigations.
The attack came just a month after Brazilian President Michel Temer put the military in charge of security in Rio, which is experiencing a spike in violence less than two years after hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The intervention has been controversial because it has put thousands of troops on the streets and, at least so far, does not appear to be having an impact.
It is also being criticized because generals do not appear to have the appetite to take on major components of the violence: endemic police corruption and heavy-handed tactics.
Marielle Franco’s sister, Anielle Franco, told journalists her family is considering leaving Rio out of fear.
“Our favela is crying, Rio is crying and Brazil is crying today,” she said.
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