Two people have been arrested in connection with a planned attack at the Lady Gaga Concert held in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night.
According to the Rio de Janeiro Civic Police, the duo were part of an online hate group that was trying to “employ” people to carry out the attack at the May 3 concert, using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails.
The group posed with the name “Little Monster,” a given to Gaga fans, to recruit additional co-conspirators. For this reason, police have cited plans to stop the bomb plot from “fake monster operations.”
Rio Police Chief Luis Lima is said to be planning on attracting more viewers and adopting teenagers and children in their causes by posting inflammatory content such as “hate crimes, self-harm, pedophilia, and violent content.” Associated Press.
The alleged leader of the group was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm, and a teenager in connection with the thwarted attack was arrested for possession of child pornography.
Rio Police Felipe Curie told the news outlet that the suspect was intended to attack to target LGBTQ people who may be present at the concert.
Gaga has long been an LGBTQ ally and advocate, and in 2019 she said she was “a “Anti-Group” on WorldPride NYC.Take the bullet“For the LGBTQ community.
“They were clearly saying they were planning an offense at a sexually motivated Lady Gaga concert,” Curie said.
15 searches and seizure warrants were provided for nine targets across the country as part of a larger stab wound by law enforcement.
While providing these warrants, authorities confiscated telephones and other electronic devices. Police said they believe the homemade bombs were intended to be used in attacks on concerts, but there were no reports that the attack had raised inciting material.
One of the people who accompanied the warrant was a man who was said to have planned to carry out a “Satanist Ritual by Killing Children and Babies” during the concert. Police said the man claimed Gaga was a Satanist and “wanted to respond in the same way.” He was eventually arrested and charged with terrorist crimes and inducing a crime.
Police said in a statement that they carried out the operation “with discretion and accuracy” to avoid “panic or distortion of information between the population.”
Specialist Police Chief Andre Neves said over the past three weeks, law enforcement has been able to prevent many similar crimes planned on the “Deep Web.”
A spokesman for Lady Gaga told CNN that ahead of the superstar’s concert there were “no known safety concerns.” The free performance held at Copacabana Beach in Rio marked Gaga’s first show in Brazil since 2012, attracting over 2 million people.
“I learned about this alleged threat through media coverage this morning,” the spokesman said. “There was no known safety concerns before and after the show, nor did Mrs. Gaga communicate with police or authorities regarding potential risks. Her team worked closely with law enforcement through planning and execution of the concert, and all stakeholders were confident in their safety measures.”
Concert attendee Dani Morela Trettin is pleased to CNN that police did not tell the public about the threat. He said the fact that the online hate groups wanted to target LGBTQ people “leaded a bitter taste in my mouth.”
However, he also said that Gaga’s “bringing strange joys in Rio de Janeiro” was an important statement “as the world becomes more conservative.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
