Protest against the privatization of the Mint leads to chaos in the Chamber of Deputies.
A group of protesters entered the Chamber of Deputies and headed towards the Green Room, where the deputies pass through, when they were stopped by legislative police; the protest against the privatization of the Mint interrupted the voting on the Political Reform.
Infomoney - Protesters staged a demonstration in the plenary hall of the Chamber of Deputies, which ended up causing confusion. The protest was against the privatization of the Mint and occurred while deputies were discussing one of the proposals dealing with political reform. A group of protesters entered the Chamber's premises and headed towards the Green Room, where deputies circulate, when they were stopped by legislative police officers.
To try and stop the influx of people, who were wearing green and yellow shirts, the police used pepper spray. Members of parliament, aides, and staff members were among those affected.
The protest took place near the corridor where the committees meet, and the area was cordoned off. Several deputies emerged from the tunnel leading to the building's annexes, their eyes watering from the tear gas. Some parliamentarians complained about the police action, while others defended the containment measures.
"I want to request from the president of the Brazilian Parliament the footage of my walk down the corridor, and I want to show, with this footage, that I was pushed by the security guards. And I wasn't even at the demonstration," said Congressman Henrique Fontana (PT-RS) in plenary session.
Criticizing what he called a "state of exception," the congressman defended people's right to protest and stated that he was against the sale of the Mint.
Meanwhile, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSC-SP) criticized the protesters' actions of forcing their way in, and received support from opposition parliamentarians. "Unfortunately, sometimes, because they don't understand through conversation and dialogue, they have to resort to pepper spray. It ends up affecting everyone. If you don't want attitudes like this, just don't create chaos and disorder. That's it," he said.
Following the commotion, the Speaker of the House, Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ), promised to request "a full investigation into everything that happened and all those who often try to disregard the House rules, resulting in incidents that are always handled by the House security."