The group was “baptized” by ISIS and only had contact with the group via the Internet, Brazil’s Justice Minister said.
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Brazilian police have arrested a group suspected of preparing extremist acts during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, less than three weeks before the Games begin, the Brazilian government said Thursday. It will deploy about 85,000 soldiers, police and other security personnel, more than twice as many in place for the London Olympics in 2012.
He said that some members of the group had sworn an oath of allegiance to ISIS, and that they planned to carry out an Orlando nightclub-style mass shooting attack; they did not have bomb materials, he said.
De Moraes said the group was not an organized cell, calling it “absolutely amateur – with no preparation”. Moraes said no specific target was threatened and that while the threat was “minimal”, authorities would crack down hard on any suspected plot.
Moraes said the individuals detained on Thursday were being monitored because they had accessed websites linked to IS.
In addition to the 10 arrested, two more people were being brought in for questioning, Reuters reports.
He said authorities learned the group had been in talks with clandestine arms dealers in Paraguay about acquiring an AK-47 assault rifle but that there was no confirmation any purchase was made.
“There was an order between them to start training in martial arts”, de Moraes said.
The minister said the leader of the group was based in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba, with others spread in nine Brazilian states.
Last week, after the attack in Nice, Brazilian security officials said they would increase security perimeters, ramp up inspections of visitors and use more roadblocks throughout Rio de Janeiro, even if it means longer lines during the Olympics, which start August 5.
The directions come after the launch of a new Telegram channel called “Ansar al-Khilafah Brazil”, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and is the first pledge to come from South America. The messages are being sent via the mobile messaging system Telegram, SITE said.
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“All threats related to the Rio 2016 Games are being meticulously investigated, particularly those related to terrorism”, the Brazilian intelligence agency ABIN said in a statement when asked to comment on the previously unknown group’s claim of support for ISIS.
