RIO DE JANEIRO — More than a thousand people marched from a shanty town to downtown in Rio de Janeiro Sunday to protest the apparent assassination of black lawmaker and human rights activist Marielle Franco.
March organizers used megaphones to shout that her “voice will not be silenced,” as the protest made its way down the city’s main street.
Some politicians who joined the march said if Franco’s killing was meant to make people afraid to speak out, the opposite will would happen, and that “courage will spread through Brazil.”
Franco and her driver were gunned down last Wednesday as they left an event in support of black women.
Franco was a member of the Rio city council and an outspoken advocate of minority rights, often speaking out against alleged police brutality in the city’s slums.
Brazilian President Michel Temer put the army in charge of security in Rio because of complaints by human rights groups of extreme and sometimes deadly police violence.
Critics say the military presence appears to have had little effect. | via Voice of America
