Brazil's federal police announced Thursday that they had indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 other people on charges of attempting a military coup, accusing the far-right politician of having "full knowledge" of a plot to kill the 2022 election victor, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, multiple outlets reported.
Despite Bolsonaro repeatedly challenging the legitimacy of the election, he has denied involvement in attempts to overturn the results. Testimony and video footage presented to Brazilian law enforcement and judges in the course of investigations over the past year, however, suggest that he directly approached military officers in a bid to remain in power through force.
