BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday there was no justification for what he called an attempted “terrorist act” after police foiled a man’s plan to set off an explosive device in Brasilia last week in protest against his election defeat.
The outgoing far-right leader, however, tried to distance himself from George Washington de Oliveira Sousa, who was arrested for the bomb plot and told police that Bolsonaro’s call to arms inspired him to get an arsenal of guns and explosives.
“The man had ideas that are not shared by any citizen, but now they classify him as a ‘Bolsonarista’,” the president complained in a social media broadcast before leaving office.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito and Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
