Brazilian police officer turned politician Wellington Burnett detained in coup probe

SAO PAULO, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Brazilian police on Tuesday detained a former deputy and close ally of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro as part of an investigation into the Jan. 8 attack on the country’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace by Bolsonaro supporters. Federal police said in a statement that Wellington Burnett Olivo, a former military police officer elected to the lower house of Congress in 2018, was detained in the central state of Goias. Police said they were carrying out 14 search and arrest warrants in five states, Sao Paulo, Goias, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Minas Gerais. Olivo has been accused by prosecutors of helping to finance and organize the Jan. 8 riots, which Bolsonaro supporters launched after the leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as president on Jan. 1. More than 1,200 people have been arrested in connection with the riots, and Brazil’s top court has authorized an investigation into Bolsonaro’s role in the events. Olivo, a former state secretary of public security for the Federal District that includes the capital Brasilia, is a close ally of Bolsonaro and was elected to Congress on the former president’s conservative Liberal Party ticket. He has denied any wrongdoing. On the day of the riots, Olivo posted a video on social media showing him at the edge of the crowd gathered outside Congress. He has said he went to the protest to monitor the situation and prevent violence. However, prosecutors have alleged that he helped to organize the protest and provided financial support to those who participated. Olivo’s detention is the latest in a series of arrests of Bolsonaro allies in connection with the Jan. 8 riots. Last week, police detained Anderson Torres, who was Bolsonaro’s justice minister and head of public security for the Federal District at the time of the attacks. Torres has also denied any wrongdoing. The investigation into the riots is ongoing, and it is possible that more arrests will be made in the coming weeks and months..