Arrests Made in Connection with Foiled Bomb Plot at Lady Gaga Concert
The police in Brazil said on Sunday that two people were arrested in connection with a suspected conspiracy to detonate a bomb at a free Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro. The event was the biggest show of the pop star’s career on Saturday, which moved 2 million fans to Copacabana Beach.
The Investigation
The State Police of Rio de Janeiro said that they worked with the Ministry of Justice to disturb an attack that was allegedly planned by a group that had spread hate speeches against the LGBTQ community. The police said the group tried to radicalize and recruit teenagers to carry out attacks with Molotov cocktails and improvised explosives.
The Planned Attack
The plan was dealt with as a "collective challenge" with the aim of gaining awareness on social media, said the police. The authorities said they had arrested two people in connection with the planned attack – the alleged leader of the group for illegal gun ownership indictment in the southern state of Rio Grande Do Sul and a teenager for child pornography in Rio.
The Arrests and Seizures
The authorities said that the police had searched the locations of 15 suspects in several states in Brazil and seized confiscated telephones and other electronic devices. Lady Gaga’s publicist and concert sponsor did not immediately answer a request for comments.
The Group’s Tactics
The Ministry of Justice said that members of the group were wrongly presenting themselves online as a "little monster" – Lady Gaga’s nickname for her fans – to reach teenagers and attract them to "networks with violent and self-destructive content". The police said that they carried out the operation quietly on Saturday to "avoid panic or information from the population". The Ministry said there was no effect on the participants of the free concert.
