At least one police officer and four others were killed Thursday in a raging gun battle between more than 400 cops and a criminal gang in the Complexo do Alemao favela (slum) neighborhood of Rio de Janiero, Brazil, the AP reports. The raid, possibly egged on by right wing asshole President Bolsonaro trying to hype his “law and order” bullshit ahead of October’s election which he’s widely expected to lose, began in the pre-dawn hours and continued throughout the day as locals caught in the crossfire begged cops to stop shooting. The reported death toll of five is certain to increase.
“It’s a massacre inside, which police are calling an operation,” one local woman told the AP on condition of anonymity as she feared reprisal from police. “They’re not letting us help (the victims),” adding she saw a man arrested for trying to help a wounded person. Video of the raid showed residents waving white sheets from roofs and windows, pleading for the shooting to stop.