The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro say they thwarted a planned bomb attack by a hate group targeting children, teens and the LGBTQ+ community at Lady Gaga‘s record-breaking concert held at Copacabana Beach last night, which drew over 2 million attendees.
In a press release, the agency, in coordination with local officials, said it served 15 search and seizure warrants across nine cities in four states: Rio de Janeiro, Niterói, Duque de Caxias and Macaé, in the state of Rio de Janeiro; Cotia, São Vicente and Vargem Grande Paulista, in the state of São Paulo; São Sebastião do Caí in Rio Grande do Sul and Campo Novo do Parecis in Mato Grosso.
Dubbing it “Operation Fake Monster,” the investigation singled out those who were recruiting participants, including teens, to carry out the attacks utilizing improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails with the aim of gaining notoriety online. An unnamed man identified as the the leader of the group was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm in Rio Grande do Sul, and a teenager was arrested for storing child pornography in Rio de Janeiro, police said.
According to police, the digital-based group was promoting radical ideology among adolescents, including the spread of hate crimes, self-harm, pedophilia and violent content. The authorities said they also went to Macaé to serve a search and seizure warrant against an individual who threatened to kill a child live on air, charging him with terrorism and inducing crime.
“The operation was launched to neutralize the digital behavior that was being coordinated, with potential risk to the public at the event, without any impact on attendees,” the police wrote in the statement. “The work was carried out discreetly and precisely, avoiding panic or distortion of information among the population.”
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