Event commemorates death of street vendor at subway station.

Elaine Patricia Cruz, reporter for Agência Brasil - Hundreds of people, including several homeless people, held a ceremony today (30) to honor street vendor Luiz Carlos Ruas, 54, who died on Christmas night (25), inside the Pedro II metro station, in downtown São Paulo, after being beaten for defending two homeless people. The ceremony took place at the same station where Ruas was murdered.

To honor him, people brought banners and flowers and placed them where Ruas used to have his stall selling soft drinks and snacks, next to the pedestrian overpass. Also as a tribute, the demonstrators put up a banner that read "Luiz Carlos Ruas" over the name of the Pedro II Station. They intend to submit a request to the São Paulo state government to change the station's name.

The protest began inside the station, with some speeches calling for more security on the subway – on the day Ruas was killed there were no security guards present. They also condemned the violence against the street vendor. While the protest was taking place, the Military Police monitored the demonstration from outside, equipped with several cars.

Around 15:30 PM, a group of protesters attempted to jump the turnstiles, but were stopped by subway security. A brief scuffle and pushing ensued, and some protesters tried to remove the barriers. Other participants intervened and called for calm. Only then did the police arrive and form a cordon to prevent the protesters from crossing the turnstiles and to allow subway passengers to pass through the area. The protesters also harassed some television news crews.

The assailants of the street vendor, Alípio Rogério Belo dos Santos, 26, and Ricardo Martins do Nascimento, 21, were arrested earlier this week and admitted to the crime, but said they were remorseful and had acted under the influence of alcohol.

Visibly emotional, Maria de Fátima Ruas, 53, the street vendor's sister, said she wanted justice. "The family doesn't want fighting. The family wants peace. May my brother's death serve as an example so that this tragedy doesn't happen again," she said, thanking the demonstrators for today's tribute. "I thank them all for the demonstration, for the love and affection for my brother."

Hate crime

Father Júlio Lancellotti, representative of the Pastoral Care for the Homeless of the Archdiocese of São Paulo, said that Ruas died a victim of a hate crime, while protecting two homeless people – a transvestite and a homosexual – who were being persecuted by the two aggressors. "No other person was attacked. They [the aggressors] clearly chose their target. And they chose and killed Luiz because he defended these people," said the priest. "What we want to show is that there is a crime of discrimination, intolerance, and prejudice. Luiz Carlos Ruas is a symbol of the cruel way in which this population is treated," he emphasized.

Delegate Rogerio Marques, head of the Metropolitan Police Station (Delpom), however, denied that the crime had this motivation. "There is nothing that leads to a hate crime, that they attacked because they are homosexuals or homeless. Not at the moment. There is a barbaric crime of aggression, but there is nothing that says it is due to intolerance," the delegate said yesterday (29).

Trans woman Raíssa Saad participates in an event to commemorate the death of a street vendor in São Paulo.
Trans woman Raíssa Saad lamented Ruas' death and said that the street vendor was like a father to her. Elaine Patricia Cruz/Agência Brasil
Raíssa Saad, a 29-year-old trans woman and homeless person, participated in today's demonstration. She recounted that, on the night of the crime, the aggressors were urinating outside the station in a place where she lives with other homeless people, and they complained about the act. "We were discriminated against here at Pedro II because the men didn't like being reprimanded and tried to murder me and Brasil [another homeless man, homosexual, who was also a victim of aggression], when Índio [the nickname by which Ruas was known locally] tried to help and they murdered Índio," said Raíssa. She emphasized that, that night, she ran to the station to call the Metro security guards to intervene, but found no one there. "He [the street vendor] only asked them to stop the aggression," stated the homeless woman, denying that the street vendor hit the aggressors with a bottle, as the defense alleges.

"Índio was like a father to me. He was very well-known, he helped us," added Raíssa, who, despite the loss of her friend, said she forgave the attackers.

Milton Alves, the husband of the street vendor's sister, was also present at the event. "These two young men didn't destroy our family. It was a sad Christmas, but we will still have happy days. They ended their lives and the lives of their relatives and friends, if they even had any."

Aid to homeless people

Former homeless man Alexandre Francisco do Carmo, 44, had known Ruas for 12 years. About six months ago, he was invited by the street vendor to share his home. "He was a good person, a hard worker. He would arrive at 5 a.m. and wake us up so we could go get a newspaper, water, or juice for him to sell. He was never a bad person," he said.

"I lived near where he worked. He saw that I knew how to do things, like plumbing, masonry, and electrical work, and he asked me to do jobs at his house. Then I saw that there was an empty space and asked to stay there [at his house]," Carmo said.

According to the homeless man, Ruas also helped other people in need. "A long time ago he used to help us in the square. It wasn't just me. There were other homeless people who lived there in the square. He was always a good person. He didn't deserve this," said Carmo. "No one should die like that. Death should only come when God commands it. But that wasn't God's death, but a deliberate one at the hands of two men, two barbarians," he added.

Other side

On Tuesday (27), the Metro confirmed, through a press release, that there were no security guards at the station at the time of the crime. According to the statement, at the time Ruas was beaten and killed inside the station, security agents were patrolling neighboring stations and were called by the Security Control Center. "The teams' deployment took six minutes, at which point the victim began to receive first aid. The criminals, however, had already fled," the Metro reported.

Contacted by Agência Brasil, the Metro has not yet commented on today's event at Pedro II station.