The São Paulo Police Ombudsman is investigating reports of nine more deaths by police intervention that would have occurred between Sunday (30) and this Monday (31) in Guarujá, on the coast of São Paulo, in the midst of a mega security operation in the region. As a result, the total number of deaths since Friday (28), when police action began, could reach 19 – the ombudsman had already determined another ten deaths, which would have occurred by Sunday afternoon.
In a statement this Monday morning, São Paulo's Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) announced that the operation on the coast had left eight people dead so far. At the beginning of the night, police chief Antônio Sucupira, head of the Guarujá police station, stated that two more deaths had occurred on Monday. With that, the number confirmed by the state government reached ten.
In his statement, Tarcísio defended the action of the police and said that there had been no excesses on the part of the agents. "There's been none of that," he said. He also stated that he is "extremely satisfied with the police action, and extremely sad because nothing will bring back a family man", in reference to soldier Patrick Reis, from Rota (the elite force of the São Paulo Military Police). At an event that night, after Folha had already reported on the investigation of nine more deaths, the governor refused to comment on the topic.
Translated by Cassy Dias