Pernambuco Identifies 14 Suspects in Beating of Tourists at Porto de Galinhas

Overview

• State officials said the Civil Police will indict the 14 identified suspects and continue the bodily-injury investigation as a priority.
• Authorities held a coordination meeting with the Security Secretariat, Military and Civil Police, Justice and Human Rights/Procon, and Ipojuca’s city hall, and announced immediate policing reinforcements on the seafront.
• Tourists Johnny Andrade and Cleiton Zanatta report the violence began after a vendor raised a R$50 chair rental to R$80 at payment, which they refused to accept.
• Lifeguards removed the pair from the crowd as bystander videos show multiple men striking them and the couple being shielded in a rescue vehicle.
• The victims say the local unit lacked imaging and no ambulance was available, forcing travel to Hospital de Ipojuca where exams found no fractures; the city lamented the case and cited efforts to register and badge beach vendors, while the couple alleges possible homophobic motivation and says it will sue.