A post containing a series of video clips in which bikers attempting to rob road travellers getting mauled by car riders is doing the rounds on social media. It is being shared with a claim that reads, “To control the increasing robbery of its citizens by motor cycle gangs, the Brazilian government has permitted the outright killing of these motor cyclists!” We fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Video shows Brazilian car riders killing motorcycle thugs by running them over with cars, as their government allowed such killings to control these robberies.
Fact: The Brazilian government has not passed such a law. The Brazilian government does not officially allow its citizens to kill bike-riding thugs by running them over with a car. As early as 1988, Brazil abolished capital punishment (death penalty) for all non-military crimes. The viral video shows clips of multiple robberies on the streets of Brazil. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
Firstly, there is no truth in the claim that the Brazilian government recently allowed bike-riding thugs/thieves to be killed. In our initial search regarding this using the appropriate keywords, we found no credible reports about Brazil passing such a law or that the Brazilian government allowed people to kill motorcycle thugs by running them over with their cars. Also, in this search process, we found that Brazil abolished capital punishment (death penalty) in 1988 for all non-military crimes except those related to the military (here and here).
Further, for more information on this issue, we contacted the Brazilian fact-checking organisation ‘Aos Fatos’, a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network’s (IFCN) Code of Principles. They clarified that there is no law in Brazil that allows the killing of people who commit thefts on motorcycles.
According to them, the killing of a person (murder) is not considered a crime only when committed as part of “legitimate self-defense.” Leonardo Cajes, the managing editor of ‘Aos Fatos,’ told Factly that this law has been in force in Brazil since 1984.
From this, we can conclude that there is no law in Brazil that allows the killing of bike-riding/motorcycle thugs. Furthermore, the viral video contains clips showing five robbery incidents on Brazilian roads.
Video Clip-1
Through a reverse image search of screenshots of this video, we found a news article (archived link) published by a Brazilian media outlet in March 2022 reporting on the same video.
According to this article, the video clip shows an incident where a man driving a car ran over a motorcycle when two thugs riding on it tried to commit a robbery on Avenida Santo Antonio Avenue in Bela Vista, Osasco Municipality, São Paulo City, Brazil.
The story says that the incident took place on 11 March 2022, and the video was posted on social media in March 2022 by several people claiming to be from the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil ( here, here, here ). We also geolocated the area of the avenue in Avenida Santo Antonio, where the incident occurred.
Video Clip-2
A reverse image search using a few screenshots from this video led us to a news article (archived link) published by a Brazilian media organisation in November 2020. According to this report, the footage seen in the video shows a man ramming his car into the motorcycle of two thugs who attempted a robbery in Fortaleza, Jangurusu region, Brazil.
Video Clip-3
Performing a reverse image search on a few screenshots of this video led us to several news articles published by Brazilian media outlets in July 2021 reporting on the same video (here, here) (archived link). “The incident occurred in the early hours of 01 July 2021 in Diadema City, São Paulo State, Brazil. It happened when a Brazilian military officer was on his Uber ride to Diadema City, São Paulo State, Brazil. While travelling on No. 317, two robbers arrived on a motorcycle, one of whom approached the car, and the officer fired six times with his gun. Diadema police are investigating the cause of the shooting. One person was killed in the firing,” the reports said.
Video Clip-4
A reverse image search using a few screenshots of this video led us to several news articles published by Brazilian media outlets in October 2021 reporting the same video (here, here) (archived link).
According to these reports, the incident occurred on 02 October 2021 in Campos Novos Paulista, São Paulo State, Brazil. Other news articles and social media posts stating that the event occurred in 2021 in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, can be found here, & here.
Video Clip-5
A reverse image search on the internet using a few screenshots of this video led us to several news articles published by Brazilian media outlets in February 2022 reporting about the same video (here, here, here, & here) (archived link).
According to these reports, the incident took place on 12 February 2022 in the southern zone of São Paulo State, Brazil. This happened when armed men riding a two-wheeler attempted to rob three youths who were walking on a road. Observing this, their uncle ran over his car onto the motorcycle of the thugs.
To sum up, the Brazilian government does not allow its citizens to run over and kill thugs on motorcycles who commit thefts.
