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Protests Grow After Rio’s Deadliest Raid as Authorities Name Victims, Cite Major Arms Haul

A Supreme Court hearing on Nov. 3 will address growing calls for prompt, independent investigations.

Men carry the bodies of people killed the day before during a police raid targeting the Comando Vermelho gang in the Complexo da Penha favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
People protest days after a deadly police operation targeting a drug trafficking gang at the Complexo da Penha favela in Rio de Janeiro, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
An official displays seized weapons with gang insignia during a press conference, which the police said were captured during what was the deadliest police operation in Brazil's history, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 29, 2025. REUTERS/Tita Barros
A priest blesses the bodies of people killed the day before during a police raid targeting the Comando Vermelho gang in the Complexo da Penha favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Overview

  • Officials report 121 dead including four police officers, while the public defender’s office says the toll has reached 132.
  • Rio’s civil police say 99 bodies have been identified, including 42 people with outstanding warrants and 78 with prior criminal records.
  • Hundreds to thousands marched in Vila Cruzeiro calling for Governor Cláudio Castro’s resignation as residents and rights groups alleged extrajudicial killings, citing reports of torture and a decapitation.
  • U.N. experts and human rights organizations urged independent inquiries, and Brazil’s top court demanded details of the operation ahead of Monday’s session with the governor and police chiefs.
  • State authorities touted the seizure of 120 weapons worth about 12.8 million reais, including 93 rifles with foreign origins, even as new polling showed majority approval of the raid nationally.