“He was smart, playful,” says a childhood friend of a dead black man beaten up in a supermarket in RS | Rio Grande do Sul

“I took my cell phone this morning and I was shocked. We were friends since childhood, we grew up in the same religious house, in Batuque, Umbanda. He was a drummer. Today I am 39 years old, this is my gift,” he says.

João Beto, as his friends knew him, lived in a community in Vila Farrapos, in the North Zone of the Capital. He was beaten and died inside a Carrefour supermarket unit. The images of the attack were recorded and disseminated on social networks (Look the following video).

“A good guy”, defines the friend Paulão Paquetá, president of the Bairro Obirici Neighborhood Association. The two lived about 200 meters apart and had known each other for more than 10 years.

“A good guy, he was always with us. He liked billiards and soccer. He expected São José. Every weekend he would have a barbecue for the people of the neighborhood. It was good,” he adds.

According to his friend, João Beto worked as a welder in his father’s company and had a stepdaughter. “He was a fan of São José. Whenever he had a game, he was in the early game,” he says.

Members of the organized fans of São José published a message in honor of João Alberto. See the publication:

“Tonight Beto was brutally beaten and killed by 2 security guards from Carrefour Passo D’areia, there are reports that security guards hit his head on the ground several times and Beto yelled for help and asked to breathe because they were holding their breath . of him with his knees on his back, right in the lungs, unfortunately he could not resist the respiratory arrest and ended up dying “.

The two suspects, one 24 and the other 30, were arrested on the spot. One of them is a military policeman and was transferred to a military prison. The other is a security store and is located in a Civil Police building. The investigation treats the crime as a qualified homicide.

The Military Brigade, as the Rio Grande do Sul Military Police are called, reported that the beating began after a disagreement between the victim and a supermarket employee. The victim allegedly threatened to beat the employee, who called security.

Carrefour said in a note that it deeply regrets the case, that it has launched a rigorous internal investigation and has taken steps to ensure that those responsible are legally punished.

The chain, which attributed the attack to the security guards, also described the act as criminal and announced the breach of the contract with the company responsible for the aggressor employees. (See the full note at the end of the story.)

Also in note, the Military Brigade reported that the PM involved in the attack is “temporary” and was outside working hours.

According to the statement, his functions in the corporation are limited to “performing internal services, administrative activities and video surveillance” and “external custody of penal establishments and public buildings.” The Brigade did not report what it was doing in the market.

Freitas was taken from the cashier area to the entrance of the store and, according to the Civil Police, had started the fight after beating the PM. Later, Freitas was beaten.

Video of the assault has been circulating on social media since Thursday night. The police will analyze the images from the posted video and also from the site’s security cameras.

In the images circulating on the networks, you can see two men dressed in black, which appears to be the uniform of the security guards, hitting the victim in the face, who is already on the floor. A woman close to them appears to film the action of the attackers. Then, with blood already spilled on the ground, other people appear around the beaten man, while the two attackers continue trying to mobilize him on the ground.

A team from the Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU) tried to revive the man after he was beaten, but he died on the spot.

The crime is being investigated by the Homicide and Personal Protection Police (DHPP) in Porto Alegre.

See the full Carrefour note

Carrefour informs that it will adopt the appropriate measures to hold those involved in this criminal act responsible. It will also break the contract with the company responsible for the security guards who committed the attack. The employee who was in charge of the store at the time of the incident will be fired. Out of respect for the victim, the store will be closed. We will get in touch with the family of Mr. João Alberto to provide the necessary support.

Carrefour deeply regrets the case. Upon learning of this inexplicable episode, we initiated a rigorous internal investigation and immediately took the appropriate measures so that those responsible are legally punished. We do not allow any type of violence and intolerance, and we do not accept situations like these from happening. We are deeply shocked by everything that happened and we will follow the evolution of the case, offering all the support to the local authorities.

See the full note from the Military Brigade

Immediately after being called to attend to an event in a supermarket in the Capital, the Military Brigade went to the scene and arrested all those involved, including the interim PM, whose conduct outside of working hours will be evaluated with all the rigors of the law . It should also be noted that the Provisional PM was not in the police service, since his functions are restricted, in accordance with the law, to the execution of internal services, administrative activities and video surveillance, and, also, by agreement or instrument similarly, external custody of establishments. penal and public buildings. The Military Brigade, as an institution dedicated to the protection and security of all society, reaffirms its commitment to the defense of fundamental rights and guarantees, and its total repudiation of any act of violence, discrimination and racism, intolerable and incompatible with the doctrine , mission and values ​​that the Institution practices and demands from its full-time professionals.