Political intolerance in Brazil, which during last year’s presidential elections led to the death of several Lula da Silva voters, who were killed by radical supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, has once again claimed lives, this time with the opposite political vector. A supporter of President Lula da Silva shot and killed a supporter of former President Jair Bolsonaro during a heated political discussion in Hasiara, a city in the state of Mato Grosso.
Walter Fernando da Silva, a supporter of Bolsonaro, was shot at close range by Edno de Abadia Borges, a follower of Lula, and died from a gunshot to the stomach at the scene, in a bar that both frequented. The two were friends, but the opposing political positions shook the relationship, and differences of opinion led to a new heated discussion, which this time ended in a fatal outcome.
After shooting his old friend, Edno fled in a car that was found by the police about 10 kilometers from the crime scene. Two men seen near the car, who confessed to assisting Edno’s escape, were arrested, but the author of the shots has not been found and the police are hunting him throughout the state of Mato Grosso.
According to local authorities, the gun Edno was using is illegal and he did not have a weapon. Nearly five months after the second round of the October 30, 2022, presidential election, in which Lula defeated Bolsonaro, polarization continues in Brazil between supporters of both, with episodes of radicalism following each other.