A video uploaded on Sunday showing a Brazilian man being shot at point blank range by police in São Paulo has gone viral across Brazil's social media with more than 4 million views. The video, shot from the perspective of a man riding a motorcyle, shows him being confronted by the thief with a gun, forced off his bike and having his wallet stolen. Before the thief can ride off on the stolen motorcycle, a Brazilian police officer emerges and shoots him twice. The shocking and graphic video has brought up continuing concerns about police brutality and violence in this rapidly devloping country.
The video of the shooting is proof once again of Brazil's ongoing problem with violence. Although the country has seen a vast increase in wealth in recent years following a natural resources boom, much of this wealth has stayed in the upper echelons of society, creating an ever-increasing problem of wealth inequality. This, along with police corruption, drug trafficking and readily available guns have created fertile grounds for violence and crime. According to the blog Police Brutality in Brazil, the Rio and Sao Paulo police have killed more than 11,000 people since 2003. Unnofficial estimates suggest over 3,000 deaths annually from police actions.
The video has brought to the fore the debate on the problem of police violence. Eduardo Amuri, a writer on Brazilian blog Papo de Homem, argues that "we celebrate the death of a bandit as if a little piece of justice had at last pierced our society, just as the bullets pierced the body of the victim...[but] it is naïve to think that violence dies with a criminal's death." Violence and police brutality will be a problem that will continue to plague Brazil, particularly in the lead up to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics to be held in the country.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
