A former Brazilian parliamentarian, a supporter of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, threw grenades to prevent his arrest and wounded at least two police officers, authorities said Sunday, AFP reported, citing Agerpres.

Former MP Roberto Jefferson had to serve a prison sentence by the Supreme Court (STF) for violating the conditions of house arrest after attacking the president of the supreme court on social media.

During the arrest in the city of Levy Gasparian (Rio de Janeiro state, southeast), Jefferson “reacted” and two police officers “were injured by shrapnel from a grenade he threw,” the Federal Police (PF) said. .

The two victims received medical attention and are doing well, added the FF, which increased the presence of the police at the scene.

Photo: (c) Ricardo Moraes/REUTERS

Jair Bolsonaro distanced himself from the former parliamentarian, posting on Twitter: “Anyone who opens fire on a police officer should be treated like a thug. I express my solidarity with the police officers injured in this episode.”

Earlier, the head of state condemned the “armed performance” of Jefferson, who locked himself in his house for eight hours and confirmed on a video that he used a weapon, but apparently without the intention of harming law enforcement officers.

Jair Bolsonaro, however, also criticized the judicial investigations against the former deputy, which, in his opinion, are being conducted “without any constitutional basis or any indictment.” He sent the Minister of Justice to the scene of the incident.

STF Magistrate Alexandre de Moraes ordered Jefferson to return to prison for numerous violations of his house arrest conditions.

Roberto Jefferson recently called STF president Carmen Lucia a “witch” and a “whore.”

The incident comes a week before the October 30 presidential runoff, where Jair Bolsonaro will face former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), the poll favorite.

“The crimes against Carmen Lucia cannot be accepted by anyone who respects democracy. A form of violence was created in society. A machine for the destruction of democratic values. This gives rise to behavior similar to what we saw today,” Lula da Silva wrote on Twitter, also expressing his solidarity with the victims.