On the morning of Saturday, December 14, at around 6:00 am, a police car discreetly entered the garage of a large building in Copacabana, in the southern zone of Rio de Janeiro. The building was the residence of General Walter Braga Netto, 67, former defense minister of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro – and his running mate in the 2022 presidential election.

Four days earlier, Judge Alexandre de Moraes of the Federal Supreme Court (TSF), Brazil's highest court, had authorized the arrest of this close associate of the far-right former president, accused of attempting to obstruct the investigation into the January 8, 2023 coup attempt in which he is implicated.

According to the police, Braga Netto attempted to obtain information concerning the confession of Lieutenant-Colonel Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp, concerning the organization of the putsch. Arrested in May 2023 for his involvement in an operation to falsify Covid-19 vaccination certificates during Bolsonaro's presidency, Cid has since been cooperating with the justice system in exchange for a reduced sentence.

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