‘Brazil is extermination camp’: Anger after video shows man dead while police trap him in trunk of their car | World News

Video showing a Brazilian man dead trapped in the trunk of a police car has sparked anger and protests in Brazil.

Footage shows a handcuffed Genivaldo de Jesus Santos being bundled into a boot before officers drop an airbox inside and lean against the door.

They kept Mr. Santos trapped inside as clouds of gas escaped from the vehicle.

After a short while, he stopped screaming and his legs – which were dangling beneath the door – were motionless.

Mr Santos’ wife, Maria Fabiana dos Santos, told the Globo.com news service: “I wouldn’t even call it a death.

“It really was a crime – they acted cruelly to kill him.”

The videos have sparked protests, with people blocking roads, burning tires and holding signs calling for justice.

According to his family, Mr. Santos, 38, suffered from schizophrenia and was approached by police while riding his motorbike through the town of Umbaúba, in the northeastern state of Sergipe.

One of his nephews told Globo.com he became worried when officers found drugs in his pocket.

‘Police officers turned a car into a gas chamber’

Wallyson de Jesus said: ‘They threw some gas inside the trunk and went to the police station, but my uncle was unconscious.

“They took him to the hospital but it was too late.”

According to the Brazilian Public Security Forum, police killed 6,416 people in Brazil in 2020 – nearly 80% of them black.

Renata Souza, a black activist and politician from Rio de Janeiro, wrote on Twitter: “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. Brazil is an extermination camp.”

Douglas Belchior, a member of the Coalition for Black Rights, wrote on Twitter: “These two pieces of vermin know they are being filmed and yet they still apply the death penalty.

“No more decency or embarrassment.

“They tortured and executed the guy.”

Police investigating the behavior of officers

Brazil’s Federal Highway Police said Mr Santos was arrested for resisting police, adding that he was “aggressive” and restrained by “less likely immobilization techniques and tools”. attack”.

The statement said that Mr. Santos became ill while being taken to the police station and died later in the hospital.

It does not mention that two police officers filmed trapping Mr. Santos in the trunk of his car, but it does confirm that an investigation has been launched into their conduct.

An autopsy revealed that Mr Santos had died of mechanical asphyxiation, Reuters news agency reported.

“This obstruction can occur due to a number of factors and, at first, it is not possible to determine the immediate cause of the asphyxia nor how it occurs,” the report said.