A political argument over Brazil’s October presidential elections turned deadly when a man stabbed his coworker with a knife and then delivered a blow to his neck with an axe.
The civil police chief Victor Oliveira for the central rural town of Confresa said the killer, Rafael Silva, a 22-year-old supporter of President Jair Bolsonaro, and Benedito Cardoso, a 42-year-old backer of presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, had gotten into an argument Wednesday.
The men, who work together cutting wood at a farm, were talking about the October 2 presidential election when Cardoso punched Silva in the face.
The men struggled during the fight with Silva snatching the knife from Cardoso, according to Oliveira.
Rafael Silva, 22, who supports the reelection of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, is facing a homicide charge after he confessed to murdering Benedito Cardoso, a 42-year-old backer of presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during an argument over politics at a farm in the central rural town of Confresa on Wednesday
President Jair Bolsonaro will be seeking a second term on election day October 2. He is 10 points behind former president and now-candidate Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, according a poll that was released this week
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is making a second run as president of Brazil. He held the presidency from 2003 to 2010
At one point, Silva ran after Cardoso and started punching him in the back. Cardoso was lying on the ground when Silva stabbed him at least 15 times in the eyes, neck and forehead.
Silva then went over to the shed and retrieved an axe before walked back to decapitate Cardoso, striking him in the neck.
Silva hid the knife and axe in the farm and visited a local hospital for treatment to cuts on his hand and forehead, telling doctors he had been injured in a robbery.
A police officer escorts Rafael Silva, a 22-year-old supporter of President Jair Bolsonaro
A knife (left) and axe (right) were recovered from the central Brazil farm where a 22-year-old man murdered his coworker, 42, during an argument about the October 2 presidential election
Authorities were alerted and took Silva to the police precinct, where he confessed to killing his coworker.
He was placed in custody on a homicide charge. A judge granted the prosecution’s petition to place Silva in pre-trial detention.
‘Intolerance must not and will not be allowed, on pain of regressing to times of barbarism,’ the judge opined. ‘The freedom of expression of thought, be it political party, religious, or other, is a fundamental guarantee that cannot be waived.’
The killing comes as Brazilian politicians had already raised concerns over the violent atmosphere leading up to election day October 2.
On August 31, police officer Vitor da Silva was attacked by Davi de Souza, 40, and shot him in the leg during a political argument at a church in the central state of Goiás.
Marcelo Arruda, a 50-year-old father of four, was shot dead by police officer Jorge da Rocha, a supporter of President Bolsonaro, on July 9 in Foz do Iguacu, Paraná.
Da Rocha showed up uninvited at a hall where Arruda was celebrating his birthday and confronted him and his guests, shouting ‘this is Bolsonaro’ and called the president a legend.
Da Rocha allegedly warned Arruda and said, ‘I am going to come back and I’m going to kill you all.’ He drove off and returned, firing two shots before he charged inside the building.
He was tackled by a woman, but managed to fire another shot, striking Arruda who also responded with several shots before he died.
Lula da Silva, who was president from 2003 to 2010, holds a 10-point lead over Bolsonaro ahead of the October, according to a Genial/Quaest poll released this week.
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