Photo shows Brazilian president with suspect in Marielle Franco’s murder

Brasilia, October 7 (RHC)-- In Brazil, a newly surfaced photo shows far-right President Jair Bolsonaro smiling and posing with a man who’s been arrested in connection with the murder of human rights activist and Rio City Councilmember Marielle Franco.

Josinaldo Lucas Freitas was arrested and charged with disposing of the guns used in the March 2018 assassination.  It’s the second known photograph of Bolsonaro taken with a suspect in Franco’s murder.  Another photo circulated in the Brazilian press shows Bolsonaro in a friendly embrace with a former police officer who’s been charged with driving the car used in the shooting. 

Marielle Franco, who was Black and a vocal member of the LGBT community, was a longtime critic of Brazil’s police, who have been linked to thousands of killings and incidents of brutality in Rio’s impoverished favela neighborhoods.