The Intercept condemns in the strongest possible terms the retaliatory investigation launched by the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police against The Intercept Brasil Executive Editor Leandro Demori.
On May 8, Demori raised questions in a newsletter about whether a Civil Police division known as CORE was effectively working as an assassination squad. Days earlier, CORE had committed the deadliest police massacre in the city’s history.
This week, we learned that instead of investigating CORE, the police were coming after Demori.
A Brazilian news outlet reported that a top police official known for launching meritless, politicized probes had initiated an investigation into Demori on May 12. Demori has been called into the police station for an interrogation, but The Intercept is resisting the summons with the help of our legal team.
We stand behind Demori and his reporting. This is yet another naked attempt to repress The Intercept Brasil’s journalism, and as our Brazil team said in a statement, “The Intercept won’t bow to that, ever.”
Press freedom in Brazil is under attack: Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has helped create a climate of repression and fear for journalists — and it’s not the first time the authorities have come after The Intercept for its groundbreaking reporting. In all the other cases, the charges failed to move forward.
We expect that this farcical investigation, undertaken to distract from hard questions about Rio’s police force, will be immediately dropped and Demori cleared of any wrongdoing.
In the meantime, we will continue our important reporting on police violence and corruption in Brazil.
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
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