Rio de Janeiro [Brazil], May 5 : Police have said that two persons arrested on suspicion of planning an attack at singer Lady Gaga's concert in Rio de Janeiro were targeting LGBTQ+ people, CNN reported.
According to the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, the two persons had tried to "recruit" people, including teenagers, to conduct coordinated attacks at a concert on Saturday, using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails. According to police, the attack was planned to gain "notoriety on social media."
In a separate development, a third person who allegedly planned to conduct a "satanist ritual by killing a child or a baby" during the concert was charged with terrorism offences, according to Brazilian police. The arrests were made following police searches at nine addresses across Brazil, CNN reported.
Around 2.1 million people attended the pop icon's free performance at Rio's Copacabana beach, which was Gaga's first show in Brazil since 2012. Police said the suspects mainly wanted to target LGBTQ+ people attending the concert. Lady Gaga is a staunch supporter of the LGBTQ+ people and has previously said in a rally at World Pride NYC that she would "take a bullet" for them.
She said that people "filled with hatred and ignorance... should be looking up to the queer community and following and learning about love, and learning about grace, learning about kindness."
According to police, the suspects were part of an online hate group that worked to radicalise young people. Police said they promoted "the dissemination of hate crimes, self-harm, pedophilia and violent content."
According to Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security, those who have been arrested by police posed as "Little Monsters," the name given to fans of Lady Gaga, to try and recruit people online to conduct the coordinated attacks. In response to this, police named their plan to thwart the plot "Operation Fake Monster."
the police named their plan to thwart the bomb plot "Operation Fake Monster." The group's alleged leader was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm while a teenager linked to the thwarted attack was arrested for possession of child pornography, CNN reported.
According to police, 15 search and seizure warrants were served against nine targets in Brazil. One of those searched was the man who allegedly planned to kill a child or baby during the concert, as he claimed that Gaga was a satanist and he intended to "respond in the same way," according to police officer Maria Luiza Machado. Police said he was charged with terrorism and inducing crime.
According to the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police, two of the search warrants were conducted in coordination with the US Consulate, which warned Brazilian authorities regarding potential threats. Before the singer's concert on Sunday, a spokesperson for Lady Gaga told CNN that there were "no known safety concerns."
In a statement to CNN, the spokesperson said, "We learned about this alleged threat via media reports this morning." The statement read, "Prior to and during the show, there were no known safety concerns, nor any communication from the police or authorities to Lady Gaga regarding any potential risks. Her team worked closely with law enforcement throughout the planning and execution of the concert and all parties were confident in the safety measures in place."
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