Rio de Janeiro police use snipers against armed suspects, the governor acknowledged

The idea of ​​deploying snipers had been perceived as a mere campaign promise despite protests from human rights activists, but the governor Wilson Witzel He said that since coming to power in January, he has put it into practice.

"The snipers are used in the greatest secrecy, they are used but we do not talk about it, the principle is clear: if an individual brings an badault rifle, he must be immediately neutralized by murderous means "said Witzel in the interview of the newspaper O Globo.

Rio de Janeiro, the successful host of the Olympics in 2016, has faced a resurgence of violence with frequent shootings involving drug gangs and security forces.

In January and February 2019, during the first two months of his tenure, 305 people were killed by police, according to government statistics, namely that one of these deaths occurred every four and a half hours.

It's a 17.6% increase over the same period in 2018, and a record for 16 years of statistics on police officers involved in deaths.

"The numbers do not worry, I trust the police"he said Witzel. "The criminals provoke shootings just to spread panic."

Exjuez of 51 years, Witzel He was an unknown politician until a few months ago, but he was elected with great surprise to embrace the far-right speech of President Jair Bolsonaro, elected on the same date in October.

In conversation with O Globo, the governor did not hide his presidential ambitions.

"I was Tuesday with Bolsonaro and I told him: if he is not a candidate (for re-election), I am ready to continue the growth program of our country, "he said.

Asked about Bolsonaro's reaction to his ambitions, Witzel replied, "He laughed, I think he was also thinking about what he was going to do."