On Sunday, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro led a sizable rally in São Paulo, where he refuted allegations of involvement in a coup plot to retain power.

Thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters, adorned in Brazil’s national flag colors of green and gold, gathered on Paulista Avenue, a prominent thoroughfare in the country’s largest city, to express solidarity with the ex-leader amid growing legal challenges.

Bolsonaro, a far-right populist, had mobilized the protest via social media platform X, framing it as a “defense of democratic rule of law.”

The former president is currently under investigation by the Brazilian Federal Police for an alleged coup attempt to stay in power after his defeat in the 2022 presidential election, as confirmed by his lawyer in early February.

Several former ministers from Bolsonaro’s government are also under investigation, with some aides having been arrested, according to CNN Brasil.

During the rally, Bolsonaro asserted that he is facing persecution, without directly referencing the institutions conducting the investigation.

In the previous year, Brazil’s highest electoral court barred Bolsonaro from running for political office until 2030, citing the abuse of power and misuse of public media during the 2022 election campaign.

Following Bolsonaro’s narrow electoral loss to leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his supporters engaged in riots and broke into government buildings in Brasilia on January 8, 2023.

Bolsonaro has denied any involvement in inciting the violence during the capital attacks.

During Sunday’s rally, Bolsonaro advocated for parliamentary amnesty for those detained in connection with the January 8 riots in Brasília, as reported by CNN Brasil.

Additionally, Bolsonaro was observed waving an Israeli flag during the rally, signaling opposition to Lula da Silva, who had previously likened Israel’s offensive on Gaza to the Holocaust.

Written by B.C. Begley