A dancer’s death lit the fuse of violent protests near Rio’s Copacabana
Brazilian police patrol following shootings in the pacified Pavao-Pavaozinho community, just blocks from Copacabana Beach, on April 22, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
At least one person was killed in the violent protests that shook the Pavao-Pavaozinho favela, near Rio de Janeiro's famous Copacabana beach.
Demonstrators set fire to barricades made of tires and threw bottles to protest the death of Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira, a dancer.
Da Silva Pereira's friends alleged that he was caught in the middle of a shoot-out between police and drug traffickers on Monday. They said he was beaten to death. Police told Agence France-Presse that they believed evidence showed he died in a fall.
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The dancer's mother, a nurse, said, "He died at 1 in the morning. More than 12 hours afterwards we got to see the body. He was in a defensive posture, all beaten up."
"There were no signs of gunshot wounds," Maria de Fatima da Silva pointed out.
Local media reported that at least one person was killed in the protests that followed Da Silva Pereira's death, and a 12-year-old boy was injured.
Brazilian troops have been entering the country's slums ahead of the World Cup to "pacify" the favelas, which are seen as havens for organized crime.
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