Overview
- Internal records show BOPE bought 20 Daniel Defense sniper rifles in May 2023 for about $150,000, with delivery in 2024 after State Department debate and Commerce licensing.
- Reuters could not determine whether the U.S.-made rifles were used in the recent raid; a separate order of Griffin Armament suppressors was initially blocked and its final disposition remains unclear.
- A January 2024 State Department memo and then-ambassador Elizabeth Bagley opposed the sale, describing BOPE as notorious for civilian deaths, as official data counted 703 Rio police killings in 2023.
- Ricardo Pita backed the transaction as a House Foreign Affairs Committee staffer, later joined the State Department, visited BOPE, pressed to clear suppressors, and asked who inside State had opposed the deal, according to officials.
- The State Department now says such equipment would not be denied under the current administration, noting President Trump’s April rollback of 2023 guidance that tightened human-rights restrictions on gun exports.