Police in Rio de Janeiro are trying to interrogate our editor

From its beginnings, The Intercept’s team in Brazil has reported on a culture of corruption and politicization in the Brazilian criminal justice system — which illegally conspired to imprison former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and paved the way for far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to take power.

Events there have now taken an alarming turn: In a naked attempt to suppress our journalism, a pro-Bolsonaro police official has initiated an investigation into The Intercept Brasil’s executive editor, Leandro Demori, for his reporting on police violence.

Leandro’s alleged offense was to raise questions about the involvement of a police division in a raid on a favela last month that killed at least 28 people — the deadliest police massacre in Rio de Janeiro’s history. Experts have warned that police violence, which overwhelmingly targets Afro-Brazilians, has accelerated under Bolsonaro’s rule.

I’ve never been prouder of our team in Brazil, who are bravely reporting and publishing under dangerous and repressive conditions. Leandro has already promised that he won’t back down, and our legal team is helping him fight a summons to the police station for interrogation.

This new attack comes on the second anniversary of The Intercept’s publication of documents that revealed improprieties by the Brazilian judicial officials who imprisoned Lula, sending shockwaves that continue to reverberate through the country’s politics.

While I’m confident that our team in Brazil will prevail in their legal fight, this incident is a timely reminder of why The Intercept’s brand of journalism is so expensive and time-consuming to produce — requiring not only courageous reporters and editors, but also sophisticated legal, security, and technology teams.

This week also marks the beginning of our twice-yearly membership campaign, in which we ask readers to help fund journalism that holds power to account. We’ve got an ambitious goal of raising $400,000 by June 30 — can you donate today?

Thank you,