Brazil: Thousands protest in Rio against Bolsonaro, racism

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in downtown Rio de Janeiro on Sunday to protest against racism and police killings of black people.

The march, that was inspired by the demonstrations worldwide following the death of George Floyd in the US, was to denounce the killing of black people in Rio’s favelas.

Carrying banners reading "Black Lives Matter" and the names of young black people allegedly killed by the police, the protesters gathered near the monument of Zumbi dos Palmares - one of the leaders of the resistance against slavery in the country - and marched near Candelaria Church.

Among the protesters, most of them young black people, was Neilton Pinto, the father of Joao Pedro, a 14-year-old black boy who was killed inside his house in May, during a police operation.

The boy was with his cousins when police in pursuit of drug trafficking suspects fired bullets outside his home, that penetrated the house and killed him.

According to local media, 70 shots hit the walls of the house.

"Racism is cruel and has to stop. Black people are humans like everyone," his father said.

"If my son was in a house in Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana or another wealthy place that would not have happened," he said.

The prosecutors opened an investigation to clarify the involvement of the police officers in the operation that killed the boy.

At the same time as the homicide rate has fallen since 2019, the killings by police in Rio de Janeiro have increased to an unseen level, according to official figures released by the Public Security Institute.