Arrests ordered for top officials after Brazil riot

Brazil’s judicial authorities have ordered the arrest of top public officials after rioters stormed key government buildings in Brasília. 

According to local media, the former commander of the military police has already been arrested. 

The officials include Brasília’s former public security chief Anderson Torres and others “responsible for acts and omissions” leading to the riots, the attorney general’s office said.

Colonel Fábio Augusto, the police commander, was dismissed from his role after supporters the storming of three government buildings. 

The rioting came a week after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in – he won the October election, beating out right-wing Jair Bolsonaro. 

The storming of the buildings saw thousands of protesters overrun police and ransack Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court.

So far, around 1,500 people have been arrested and brought to the police academy after the riot, officials say that nearly 600 have been taken to other facilities, where police have five days to formally charge them.