Bolsonaro supporters try to storm police HQ in ‘January 6-style’ rampage

Fanatical supporters of Brazil's outgoing president, Jair Bolsonaro, have torched cars and buses and tried to storm the federal police headquarters in the country's capital in what one commentator called a botched attempt to spark a January 6-style turmoil.

Several hours later, hardcore Bolsonaristas who want the result overturned rampaged through the heart of Brasilia, after a member of their radical group was arrested for allegedly trying to incite violence that would prevent Lula from being sworn in on 1 January.

Reuters said witnesses saw extremists, many wearing the yellow Brazil shirts that symbolise the president's far-right movement, confronting security forces outside a federal police headquarters. Police used stun grenades and teargas to disperse the crowd.

Footage posted on social media by bystanders and local journalists showed militant Bolsonaro supporters setting fire to a bus.

The political commentator Thomas Traumann tweeted his condemnation, saying: "Bolsonarismo has gone from being a popular far-right movement to being a terrorist cell."

"It's an attempt at [replicating] the Capitol," Traumann added in reference to the storming of the US legislature by hardcore Donald Trump supporters on 6 January 2021. "It won't work but it's an attempt."

The outbreak of violence, which had reportedly subsided by Tuesday morning, has sparked fears there could be further upheaval in the lead-up to Lula's inauguration. Hundreds of thousands of supporters are expected to attend the event, at which some of Brazil's best-known artists will perform, including Pabllo Vittar, Paulinho da Viola, Martinho da Vila and Maria Rita.