Nearly a year after the World Cup Final, hundreds of students assembled in the shadow of Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium to debate a student strike at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Like nearly all of Brazil’s public universities, UERJ is facing a financial crisis that the administration is attempting to resolve through sweeping attacks on the conditions of students and workers.

The students’ strategy discussion was interrupted by the sound of bombs and gunfire coming from the nearby Metro-Mangueira favela, where police were attacking residents trying to prevent the demolition of their homes. The students stopped their assembly and marched out to help the residents shut down the main street between the university and the favela. Police responded by launching tear gas canisters and firing rubber bullets.

Choking on gas, the students retreated and sought sanctuary in the university, only to find the entrance closed and guarded by campus security. A video compiled later by the communications department of the student union shows one student assaulted and dragged off, and many others harassed and violently threatened. After a brief standoff, security brought out fire hoses and blasted protesters off the steps of their own university.