“The minister said the group was disorganized and amateur”.
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Although the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, French authorities have said they have found no signs it was orchestrated by an extremist group. “No matter how insignificant it may seem it will have a quick and infallible reaction from the government”, Moraes said during a news conference in Rio. According to him, the group wanted to do what no organized cell would have done as they tried to purchase a gun online.
However “they were complete amateurs and ill-prepared” to actually launch an attack, Mr Moraes said.
The suspects are all Brazilian and one is a minor.
The minister said the group’s leader was based in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba, with others spread across nine Brazilian states.
Members of the group had reportedly visited a weapons site in neighboring Paraguay that sells AK-47 assault rifles, but there was no evidence they acquired any weapons.
Brazilian security forces have been carrying out anti-terrorist drills in Rio ahead of the Games.
Despite this, the minister said even disorganised groups needed to be taken seriously. About 80,000 police and military personnel will be monitoring the security during the Games.
The Brazilian suspects did take part in a virtual “baptism” into the terror group, an online ceremony in which members repeat phrases and swear loyalty that Moraes characterised as a “standard” procedure that takes place without contact with the terror group.
Interim President Michel Temer called an emergency cabinet meting.
“They are not coming because there’s no prize money”, said Rio Games chief Carlos Nuzman, at an event in Rio last weekend.
The Olympic Games haven’t seen a large-scale terrorist attack in several years.
In April, intelligence officials said investigators had monitored a threatening tweet posted by an Islamic State member after the November terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.
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Police acted because the group discussed using weapons and guerrilla tactics to potentially launch an attack during the Olympics, which begin on August 5, Mr Moraes said.
