São Paulo, Brazil – A notorious criminal gang unleashed a second wave of attacks against police Sunday, bringing to at least 52 the number of people killed in what one official said was the deadliest assault of its kind in Brazil’s history.
Meanwhile, 33 related prison rebellions broke out Sunday, bringing the number of penitentiary revolts across São Paulo state to 51 at the peak of the two-day uprising – more than one-third of Brazil’s 144 prisons. By late Sunday, rebellions continued at 41 prisons, and inmates were holding 229 prison guards hostage.
The inmates have not made any demands, nor have they harmed any of their hostages, said Jorge de Souza, a spokesman for the São Paulo Prison Affairs Department.
He said visiting relatives were inside several of the prisons, but “we don’t consider them hostages because they are there to show solidarity with their jailed relatives.”
Enio Lucciola, spokesman for the São Paulo State Public Safety Department, said the attacks and prison rebellions, planned by the First Capital Command, known by its Portuguese initials PCC, “were the most vicious and deadliest attacks on public security forces that have ever taken place in Brazil.” The attacks were in response to the transfer of eight imprisoned PCC leaders, a practice authorities use to sever prisoners’ ties to gang members outside prison.
The São Paulo state government said the PCC carried out at least 100 attacks Friday, Saturday and Sunday that killed at least 35 police officers.
