On Sunday, January 8, a rabid crowd in green and yellow invaded the Plaza of the Three Branches in Brasília, the seat of the federal government of Brazil. The group was comprised of supporters of Brazil’s former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, and carried symbols of his party and campaign into the headquarters of the country’s executive, legislative, and judicial governmental branches. Inside, they trashed the interiors while demanding that the military step in to depose President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The similarities between their actions and those of Donald Trump’s supporters on January 6, 2021, are inescapable, with both events involving motley crews of right-wing protesters storming federal buildings in a show of support for their losing candidate. But unlike US opponents of Trump, Brazil under President Lula is handling its response to the Plaza invasion very well so far.

The day’s protests began at the nearby army headquarters building, a site of near-continuous demonstrations since Bolsonaro’s loss to Lula as right-wing Brazilians seek to pressure the military to stage a coup on their behalf. The crowd then stormed through barricades and military police who were guarding the Plaza and made their way in through tear gas and pepper spray. After entering the Plaza, they stormed and vandalized the three buildings.