A Brazilian Supreme Court justice said Thursday that the explosion outside the court in Brasilia was the consequence of frequent far-right attacks and hate speech targeting the country's institutions.
"It grew under the guise of a criminal use of freedom of speech. To offend, threaten, coerce," Justice Alexandre de Moraes said at an event at the National Council of The Public Prosecutor's Office.
Federal Police are investigating the explosions on Wednesday as terrorism and a violent attack on the democratic rule of law, its director, Andrei Passos, said at a news conference later. Passos said that the man had attempted to enter the Supreme Court, and that police aren't considering the blast to be the work of a lone wolf.
"As much as this was an individual, behind him there is all of this discourse that leads someone to commit this," Passos said. "These actions are not isolated actions."
Security camera footage from the Supreme Court, obtained by television network Globo, shows the suspect approaching a statue outside the Supreme Court. As a guard nears, the man throws an explosive and retreats a few steps, then throws a second device and an explosion follows. Finally, the suspect ignites a third device near to himself, causing his death.
