Driver rams car into Brazil’s presidential residence, arrested

Sao Paulo, June 28

A driver rammed his car through the gates of Brazil’s presidential residence on Wednesday and was arrested, security forces said, though President Michel Temer was not inside the building.

Guards fired warning shots and then opened fire at the vehicle when it refused to stop, before detaining the driver, who appeared to be a minor, the statement said. Temer himself lives in another official residence.

The driver was not wounded and the car stopped inside the compound of the Alvorada residence. Images published by the G1 news website show the presidential residence gate knocked to the ground and shotgun shells over the floor outside the residence.

Access to the area was closed after the incident. Temer lives in Jaburu, another official residence, less than a mile away from Alvorada.

Temer has the lowest approval rating of any president in almost 30 years, only seven percent, pollster Datafolha showed last week.

Brazil’s president was charged on Monday for taking bribes by prosecutor-general Rodrigo Janot and the Supreme Court sent the charges to the lower house on Wednesday. Reuters