Brazilian Police Use Rubber Bullets to Disperse Protesters – Reports

The Brazilian police have used rubber bullets to disperse a crowd during protests in the Porto Alegre city over the killing of a customer in a Carrefour chain store, according to the G1 news website.On Friday, 40-year-old black man Joao Alberto Silveira Freitas was killed by guards while shopping with his wife.

Preliminary reports indicated that he died from choking, making his case similar to that of George Floyd in the United States (U.S.).

On Saturday, Black Lives Matter activists trashed and set on fire a Carrefour in Sao Paulo in response.

Similar violent protests also took place in Porto Alegre and Curitiba.According to the news outlet, on Monday evening, protesters gathered near the store in Porto Alegre with most of them holding placards and calling for justice.

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At about 7.00 p.m. (22:00 GMT), the protesters started marching through the street, causing traffic to slow down.An hour later, several protesters began tearing and setting on fire tree branches as well as throwing rocks at police officers.

The disturbance, which lasted about 20 minutes, was quelled after the police used rubber bullets against the crowd.

There is currently no information about casualties.Carrefour called the protests justified, saying it wants to start a conversation to search for solutions to prevent such incidents from happening.

The company said it had already contacted the family of the deceased and expressed readiness to provide any assistance necessary.