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I am surprised society thinks a protest in favor of a public cause is strange
Everyone is paying for this increase, including the police
I saw him aiming at me, but I never thought he would shot
They had aimed at me before that evening, but no one had shot
I was working... I am a woman...
I could never imagine a uniformed policeman would shoot me in the face
Tell me what happened, Mrs. Maria
I was shot with a rubber bullet
(They are going to shoot in this direction)
I need to file a citation
(Oh my god!)
(Oh my God!)
I started to cover the protests on Tuesday, the first day of protests this week
And I saw very different people, there were some people connected to political parties
and others who were protesting because they identified with the cause
(Reporter) “Why are you protesting?"”
I can’t find a reason not to be here, actually
It’s amazing that everyone has finally come to the streets and is protesting for their rights,
which will only happen with pressure from the people
(The people united will never be defeated)
Most of the people there were students, but I also saw some older people protesting.
Some people even said “I don’t take the bus, but that’s not the point
The point is protesting because public transportation must be everybody’s right,
and in a democracy, we have to fight for the rights of all
I have a car and I’m here
I think everybody should be here. Because cars produce a lot of traffic,
and owners wouldn’t use their cars if public transportation were good
Many demonstrators didn’t want violence and never attacked the police
But very few people at the front were leading an attack against the police
The police struck back and they engaged in conflict,
especially when arrived at Terminal Parque Dom Pedro II
The police were also overreacting
The first arrest at the Tuesday demonstration happened next to me
--a cyclist who wasn’t even protesting. He was thrown on the grass, face down
He screamed “Help me! I can’t breathe!”
(Oh my God!)
(Oh my God!)
The number of people on trains and subways is great
It’s just wonderful. You want to kill yourself, commit suicide on the subway…
Jump on to the rails, it’s easier
Sometimes life is made of smaller causes
It’s exactly how much you spend to commute to work that makes your life virtually impossible
(Reporter) What do you think about these acts, these protests to force price reduction?
I think they are necessary. I think they are a way of people saying they aren’t satisfied.
I’m against vandalism. I’m against any kind of vandalism and violence,
so I’m against the protestors’ vandalism and the police’s violence
But if that’s what we need to be heard, that’s what we have to do
The major kind of vandalism there is, is urban vandalism
For me, this is the everyday vandalism. Residents of a city like São Paulo are constantly vandalized,
when they stay 3 hours in traffic, when they walk on the margins of the Pinheiros and Tietê rivers,
when they are hit by cars when riding on bicycles lanes – they are vandalized
(No violence!)
(No violence!)
Thursday was just brutality
Traffic stopped. Protestors ran towards the cars
The police were throwing bombs and shooting rubber bullets between the cars,
using tear gas. Everybody was in panic
Many people who weren’t participating in the protests were there, breathing the tear gas
On Thursday the police was more armed.
(I had surrendered! I had surrendered!)
There are pictures and videos of the police using pepper spray
and tear gas against photographers working on Thursday
It’s important to make it clear that the police didn’t want to stop the press from covering the event
The shock troops don’t negotiate
For that, you have to call sociologists, psychologists, the shock troops don’t negotiate
Stay there!
(No violence!)
As everyone can see, the demonstration is peaceful,
there are many people, and we don’t want to break anything
They pointed their guns at any journalist who would get close to them and shout:
“Get out of there, get out of there! Go to the other side of the street!”
And I got close holding my cell phone,
and the police officer pointed his rubber-bullet gun at me and said:
“Are you really going to stay there? Are you going to stay there?”
In Brazil, the public system is totally underprepared – schools, hospitals…
The police couldn’t be any different
You can see by their reaction that they didn’t receive proper training,
because there’s no reason for their nervous reaction,
you can see they aren’t prepared for that
You have to use the ideal troops for these situations, which are the shock troops
Even the government, PT or PSDB, doesn’t like to admit it,
but it’s true, we were trained for that
(Look. There are shooting)
(Come, come, come!)
Col. Reynaldo, do you admit there was some kind of overreaction during the manifestations,
because the media, the TV and we at TV Folha have dozens of images of protestors
and journalists, who were not attacking or cursing the police,
and were attacked with rubber bullets and tear gas
What do you have to say about that?
The police don’t tolerate extreme behavior
We apply this even to ourselves
Just so you have an idea, we expel between 200 and 300 officers a year due to inappropriate behavior.
(Giu was shot in the eye.)
(Who?)
(Giu)
When we were walking up Augusta street we ran into the shock troops
And at that moment, a lady came up to me and asked for help to get to Paulista avenue
I said Ma’am, it’s dangerous right now, the shock troops are here and you can get hurt
Go into this parking lot
She did, and I kept watching the shock troops, because there weren’t any protestors in the stree
nobody was throwing rocks at them
Then a shock officer stayed in front of the others holding the shields
and pointed his gun at me. That had happened several times that day,
so I didn’t think he would shoot. But he did
Commander Benedito Meira said the officer shot the ground,
the bullet ricocheted and hit her eye. Do you confirm the information?
I only confirm the information because I was with my commander at the time and he gave that information
He wasn’t prepared to use the gun, to handle a tense situation
Maybe they are “prepared” when they aren’t seen, when they are in the poor outskirts, and you can’t see them
These *** filming us…
(Coward! Coward!)
We have several images of police troops at the protest not wearing any kind of identification,
ike this name tag you are wearing. Is that common?
No, it isn’t
Many images. Many troops aren’t wearing it
No, it isn’t. Actually, it isn’t common
These images can and must be sent to the police internal investigation department
so that the officers are held responsible
Anonymity among the police and protestors,
as there were several demonstrators who covered their faces and wore masks to hide their identities,
isn’t good for either side
(No violence!)
It can be good for us if we start complaining about things.
The bus fare hike is a reason. I don’t say that to reduce,
but in a certain way to increase the importance of what is happening
We are in a slow and hard process, but which we can imagine is project to improve the country economically
At least that is the image that we make of it
When the French break subways in France, they have a “cause”
If people fight and break subways on Paulista avenue, they are “bums,” who “don’t want to work”
Maybe, if we were French, we would be fancier and called activists
The public opinion might not like the riot, but they are in there with the protestors
That’s why I say they represent something bigger
The public opinion could say “that’s vandalism, I don’t accept it, I don’t support it
But that’s not what happened. The public opinion said the protests have a legitimate basis
(The people have woken up!)
TUESDAY PROTESTS
30 protestors injured, according to organizers 19 protestors arrested, according to the State Police
8 officers injured, according to the State Police
THURSDAY PROTESTS
105 protestors injured, according to organizers 235 protestors arrested, according to the State Police
13 officers injured, according to the State Police 15 journalists injured; 7 from Folha