Deputy Glauber Braga (PSOL-RJ) was forcibly removed from the Chamber of Deputies' rostrum on Tuesday (9) after occupying President Hugo Motta's chair to protest his cassation vote. Journalists were expelled from the plenary, the TV Câmara broadcast was cut off, and there were assaults on press professionals and deputies. Press entities condemned the curtailment of press freedom.
On the afternoon of December 9, 2025, tension gripped Brazil's Chamber of Deputies in Brasília. Deputy Glauber Braga (PSOL-RJ) occupied President Hugo Motta's (Republicanos-PB) chair to protest the scheduling of his cassation vote for Wednesday (10), stemming from kicking a right-wing militant in 2024. The session was suspended, the TV Câmara broadcast cut off, and the Legislative Police summoned.
Braga was immobilized with a rear naked choke and dragged out, as journalists were barred from the plenary. Only deputies remained, and they shared videos of the scene. In the Green Hall, shoving led to assaults: reporters like Guilherme Balza (Globo) and Carolina Nogueira (UOL) were pushed, and at least one had her hair pulled. Deputies including Sâmia Bomfim (PSOL-SP), Célia Xakriabá (PSOL-MG), Rogério Correia (PT-MG), and Dorinaldo Malafaia (PDT-AP) reported bruises and filed a police report against Motta, along with medical exams.
On social media, #HugoMotta garnered over 190,000 posts, criticizing the brutality and contrasting it with the August bolsonarista mutiny that occupied the rostrum for 48 hours without police force. Braga stated: 'There is an offensive where the only mandate actually affected is the one conferred on me by the people of Rio de Janeiro.' Politicians like Tabata Amaral (PSB-SP) and Erika Hilton (PSOL-SP) decried the disparate treatment.
Entities such as Fenaj, Abraji, ANJ, Abert, and Aner condemned the incident. 'The Fenaj and SJPDF consider the curtailment of press work extremely grave,' reads a joint statement. Motta defended: 'I ordered the investigation of any excesses regarding press coverage' and claimed to follow the rules to protect democracy from 'intimidation.' The episode unfolds amid agendas like the Dosimetry Bill, which reduces penalties for January 8 coup acts.
