Douglas Garcia

Douglas Garcia
Garcia in 2018
State Deputy for São Paulo
In office
15 March 2019 – 15 March 2023
Personal details
BornDouglas Garcia Bispo dos Santos
(1994-01-26) January 26, 1994
São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
PartyUnião Brasil (since 2024)

Douglas Garcia Bispo dos Santos (born in São Paulo on January 26, 1994) is a Brazilian former state deputy in São Paulo. He is affiliated with the Republicans. He was elected in 2018.[1] He is anti-communist[2] and an ally of conservative president Jair Bolsonaro.[3]

In the 2022 election, he obtained just over 24,000 votes and was not elected federal deputy, being without holding a public office as soon as his term ends in March 2023.[4]

Political activity

Garcia participated in street demonstrations while leading the conservative Direita São Paulo movement.[5] In 2018, he was elected state deputy of São Paulo with 74,351 votes.[6]

Personal life

Carnival parade paying homage to torture center

Garcia created the Porão do DOPS carnival block in 2018, a reference to the Civil Police agency responsible for the torture and murder of thousands of people during the military dictatorship in Brazil.[7][8] The block honored Carlos Brilhante Ustra, one of the most active torturers in the political repression during the dictatorship.[3]

Transgender people

On April 5, 2019, the day after threatening to assault a transsexual woman who used the same bathroom as his mother or sister, Garcia admitted to being homosexual. On the tribune of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo (ALESP), he stated: "It does not diminish in any way the causes that I have been defending here in the Legislative Assembly against 'gender ideology'".[9]

Support for skinheads

Douglas Garcia published a restricted-view post on his social media praising the Skinheads.[2] In the text, Garcia wrote that "the Skinheads are nationalists, pro-family, they are exactly like us, they only differ because they beat up the communists (which I very much approve of, by the way)". In 2017, in protest against the visit of philosopher Judith Butler to Brazil, Garcia thanked the far-right extremist gang Carecas do ABC, a São Paulo faction that preaches hatred against Black people, people from the Northeast of Brazil, and LGBTQ people, involved in the murder of Edson Néris da Silva in 2000, among other crimes.[2]

Dissemination of fake news and expulsion from the Social Liberal Party

According to a survey by Aos Fatos in May 2020, Douglas Garcia and a group of seven congressmen investigated in the Fake News Inquiry published an average of two posts per day on social media over a three-month period, containing misinformation or critically mentioning the Supreme Federal Court (STF).[10]

In July 2020, Garcia was expelled from the Social Liberal Party for violating the party's code of ethics by engaging in political activities contrary to the democratic regime.[11] Two months earlier, the party had suspended Douglas for spreading fake news and attacking democratic institutions.[12]

Attack on journalist Vera Magalhães

On September 13, 2022, after a debate between candidates for governor of São Paulo, Douglas Garcia verbally assaulted journalist Vera Magalhães, calling her a "disgrace to journalism" and shouting false accusations about her salary at TV Cultura.[13][14] Vera had to leave the debate venue under escort and stated that she would file a police report against the congressman.[13] Following the assault, a number of politicians expressed solidarity with Vera, including São Paulo gubernatorial candidates Fernando Haddad (PT), Rodrigo Garcia (PSDB), and Tarcísio Freitas (Republicanos), the latter from the same party as Douglas Garcia.[13][15] In a video released on social media, Douglas Garcia apologized to Tarcísio Freitas, but not to Vera Magalhães.[16]

Media outlets also condemned the deputy's action, such as O Globo and CBN, which, in a statement, classified Garcia's act as "an attack on the free press".[17] Press organizations, such as the National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj), the Union of Professional Journalists in the State of São Paulo (SJ-SP), the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ), the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (ABERT) and the National Association of Magazine Publishers (ANER). The latter three, in a joint statement, described Garcia's action as "an unacceptable attack on freedom of the press".[18]

Investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office and requests for impeachment

By the morning of September 15, the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo had received eight requests for the removal of Garcia from office, formulated by ten politicians, with the Ethics Council of the house responsible for accepting their processing.[14] The Public Prosecutor's Office of São Paulo initiated a criminal investigation against Garcia to ascertain the commission of the crimes of stalking and emotional harm to Vera Magalhães. According to the journalist's lawyers, the parliamentarian has been harassing her since 2020, using, among other tactics, fake news to attack her.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Deputado Estadual" [State Deputy]. Legislative Assembly of São Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Alves, Renato (September 14, 2022). "Conservador e fã de skinheads: veja quem é o deputado que atacou Vera Magalhães" [Conservative and a fan of skinheads: see who the congressman is who attacked Vera Magalhães]. O Tempo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on May 19, 2025. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Lino, Nathalia (September 14, 2022). "Exaltação ao Dops, ataques e transfobia: o histórico de Douglas Garcia" [Exaltation of the Department of Political and Social Order, attacks and transphobia: the history of Douglas Garcia]. Universo Online (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  4. ↑ Neves, Péterson (October 3, 2022). "Deputado que tentou intimidar Vera Magalhães na TV é derrotado nas eleições" [Congressman who tried to intimidate Vera Magalhães on TV is defeated in the elections]. Universo Online (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  5. ↑ Balloussier, Anna (September 26, 2018). "Ministério Público questiona menção a Ustra no bloco carnavalesco Porão do Dops" [Public Prosecutor's Office questions mention of Ustra in the Porão do Dops carnival group]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Douglas Garcia 17064 (Deputado Estadual)" [Douglas Garcia 17064 (State Deputy)]. Eleições 2018 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  7. ↑ Declercq, Marie (February 7, 2018). "Bloco Porão do Dops irá acontecer em lugar fechado" [Porão do Dops carnival block will take place in an enclosed space]. Vice (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  8. ↑ Vasallo, Luiz (February 8, 2018). "Juiz barra 'Porão do DOPS'" [Judge shuts down 'Porão do DOPS']. Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  9. ↑ Roxo, Sérgio; Aguiar, Tiago (April 5, 2019). "Deputado do PSL que atacou colega transexual assume ser gay". O Globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  10. ↑ Ribeiro, Amanda; Fávero, Bruno (May 28, 2020). "Deputados investigados por 'fake news' publicam dois tweets críticos ao STF por dia em três meses" [Congressmen under investigation for spreading 'fake news' have been posting two tweets critical of the Supreme Court per day for three months]. Aos Fatos (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  11. ↑ "PSL expulsa deputados Douglas Garcia e Gil Diniz, investigados no inquérito das fake news" [PSL expels deputies Douglas Garcia and Gil Diniz, who are under investigation in the fake news inquiry]. G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). July 15, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  12. ↑ Gomes, Paulo (May 29, 2020). "PSL suspende deputados Douglas Garcia e Gil Diniz devido a investigação de fake news" [PSL suspends deputies Douglas Garcia and Gil Diniz due to fake news investigation]. G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 Petrocilo, Carlos; Ribeiro, Tayguara (September 14, 2022). "Deputado bolsonarista hostiliza jornalista Vera Magalhães após debate em SP" [Bolsonaro-supporting congressman harasses journalist Vera Magalhães after debate in São Paulo]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  14. 1 2 Medeiros, Davi (September 19, 2022). "Ataque a Vera Magalhães: Douglas Garcia é alvo de 8 pedidos de cassação; veja os próximos passos" [Attack on Vera Magalhães: Douglas Garcia is the target of 8 impeachment requests; see the next steps]. Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  15. ↑ FM, BandNews (September 14, 2022). "Tarcísio de Freitas pede desculpas após agressão de colega contra Vera Magalhães" [Tarcísio de Freitas apologizes after colleague's aggression against Vera Magalhães]. Band (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Deputado pede desculpas a Tarcísio, mas não a Vera, após tentar intimidá-la" [The congressman apologizes to Tarcísio, but not to Vera, after trying to intimidate her]. Universo Online (in Brazilian Portuguese). September 14, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  17. ↑ "O GLOBO e CBN divulgam nota de repúdio ao ataque contra a jornalista Vera Magalhães" [O GLOBO and CBN publish a statement condemning the attack against journalist Vera Magalhães]. O Globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). September 14, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Entidades de imprensa repudiam agressão de Douglas Garcia à jornalista Vera Magalhães" [Media organizations condemn Douglas Garcia's aggression against journalist Vera Magalhães]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). September 14, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  19. ↑ "MP vai investigar deputado Douglas Garcia por ameaça, stalking e dano emocional à jornalista Vera Magalhães, diz advogado" [Public prosecutors will investigate congressman Douglas Garcia for threats, stalking, and causing emotional distress to journalist Vera Magalhães, says lawyer]. G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). September 15, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.