Protesters against racism march in Brazil after the murder of a refugee in Rio | Brazil

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Thousands of protesters took to the streets in some of Brazil’s biggest cities to denounce racist violence after the murder of a young Congolese refugee on one of Rio’s most notorious beaches.

On Saturday morning, protesters flocked to the waterfront bar where Moise Mugenyi Kabagambe, 24, was beaten to death late last month with punches, kicks and sticks.

The racially charged murder – captured in chilling security camera footage – was followed days later by another murder in which an unarmed black man was shot dead by a white neighbor who claimed to have mistaken him for a thief.

“It’s like black blood is worthless,” said Bruna da Silva, one of thousands who joined Saturday’s rally at Rio’s Barra da Tijuca beach. “We’re here to say this matters and we won’t rest until we get justice.”

Silva, 40, said she understands the pain of losing a child. Her son, Marcos Vinícius da Silva, was 14 when he was shot dead during a police operation in the Complexo da Maré community of Rio.

“It was the shirt he was wearing,” Silva said, pointing to a bloodstained school uniform on the grass beside her.

Protesters march to the site of the murder in Rio de Janeiro. Photograph: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images

Adriana Rodrigues, whose 23-year-old son was killed last year in the deadliest police raid in Rio’s history, said: “I am here for justice… what they have done with this young man was wrong.

“We are victims of the same cowardice – and it must stop. Enough. Stop killing us.

Also present was Kabagambe’s mother, who fled conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2011 and built a new life in Brazil.

“We will demand justice until the end,” Lotsove Lolo Lay Ivonne told protesters as they gathered in the scorching sun to demand an end to racist violence.

Many protesters also demanded the removal of Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, known for his damaging remarks about blacks and indigenous people.

Bolsonaro said nothing about the death of the refugee – but the marchers had a lot to say about him, chanting “Fora Bolsonaro!” (“Bolsonaro out!”) as they paraded down the beach.

Protesters also gathered in Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo, the capital, Brasilia, and Recife, Belo Horizonte, Salvador and Porto Alegre, as well as in London, Berlin and New York.

Authorities in Rio have taken steps to support Kabagambe’s family, with the mayor announcing relatives will take over the bar where he was murdered.

“What happened was brutal, unacceptable and something that is not in the nature of Rio,” Finance Secretary Pedro Paulo told reporters.

Statistics show, however, that the violent and premature death of young black men is an integral part of life in Rio. Of the 1,245 people killed in police operations in Rio state in 2020, 86% were black. In the city of Rio, the proportion was 90%.

“The only policy they have for the favela is the policy of genocide,” said Ana Paula Oliveira, 45, whose 19-year-old son Johnatha was killed by police in 2014. “It’s sickening may it never end.”

Social activist Wesley Teixeira said the scale of Saturday’s mobilization gave him hope, while the normalization of black deaths had made him despair. “People here are survivors,” Teixeira said. “It is in our unity that we find solace.”

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