The policemen push the trunk lid of the car shut. A man’s leg is still sticking out. White smoke comes out of the car – the man can’t breathe anymore and screams for his life!
Brazil is in shock after the death of Genivaldo de Jesus Santos (38)!
On Wednesday, the Brazilian was stopped by the police on a highway near Umbaúba (Sergipe state). After an altercation, police reportedly tied de Jesus Santos by the legs and packed him in the trunk.
The officials then apparently threw a gas grenade into the car, according to Brazilian media reports! Genivaldo de Jesus Santos suffocated while eyewitnesses watched the drama, videos show. After the incident, the police are said to have taken the man to a hospital, where only his death could be determined. Why did the argument come about? Not clear!
Photo: Metropoles
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Explosive: As reported by relatives to the media, the dead man is said to have been mentally ill. He suffered from schizophrenia for years and took medication. And: The death of Genivaldo de Jesus Santos – a dark-skinned man – happened on the second anniversary of George Floyd’s death, who was killed by a white police officer in the United States.
Another parallel: As with Floyd, eyewitnesses tried to warn the Brazilian police officers. In the video, a man can be heard shouting at officers: “You’re going to kill the guy.”
Santos’ nephew Alisson de Jesus, who also witnessed the incident, told local media that it was “torture”. He warned the officers at the police checkpoint that his uncle was ill.
“Car turned into gas chamber”
“Police officers turned a car into a gas chamber and executed a mentally ill man. There are no words in the face of such inhumanity,” Renata Souza, a black activist and politician from Rio de Janeiro, wrote on Twitter.
“It was a crime. They killed him in a cruel way,” Santos’ widow, Maria Fabiana dos Santos, told reporters.
Genivaldo de Jesus Santos was buried on Thursday morning after protests broke out beforehand. The brutal police officers have since been suspended from duty. She is under investigation.
According to the Brazilian Public Safety Forum, police killed 6,416 people in Brazil in 2020. Almost 80% of the victims were black.