Who Killed Marielle Franco?
Last week, Brazilian socialist Marielle Franco was assassinated on the streets of Rio. The questions surrounding her death are dangerous ones for Brazil's reactionary right.
Mourners at Marielle Franco’s funeral in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Agência Brasil Fotografias
“Who killed Marielle Franco?”. That is the question splayed across banners, spray-painted on walls, Sharpied onto signs, and shared on WhatsApp and Facebook across Brazil. It’s posed as a sincere question — a demand for a real investigation and justice — but also as an accusation. No one has a name or a photo, but everyone knows, broadly, who killed Marielle Franco. And that knowledge will reverberate through Brazilian politics for months and years to come.
An Execution
Last week, on the evening of Wednesday, March 14, Franco, a city councilor for Brazil’s Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), was in a car driving down Rio de Janeiro’s Rua Joaquim when a Cobalt-model car pulled up beside her and fired thirteen bullets into the vehicle. The bullets killed her and her driver, Anderson Gomes. Franco’s press secretary, who was in the backseat with her, survived.
All of the available evidence points to Franco’s death being a political execution, and a well-planned one at that. Earlier that evening, Franco had attended an event in Rio’s Lapa neighborhood called “Black Women Changing Power Structures.” When she arrived at the “Black Women’s House” that was hosting the event, the Cobalt that would later pursue her was already stationed outside. As she entered the house, a man got out of the car, made a call on his cellphone, and got back in to wait.
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