Brazil police arrest teen in Nazi armband after thwarted school bomb attack

Youth tried to use explosives to blow up school near Sao Paolo, authorities find an airsoft gun and Nazi propaganda at his home

By AP 14 February 2023, 10:14 am

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A teenage boy arrested for trying to attack a school in Brazil while wearing a Nazi armband on February 13, 2023 (Monte Mor city)

SAO PAULO — Police in Brazil arrested a teenager accused of trying to attack a school with explosives while wearing a Nazi armband Monday in a small city outside Sao Paulo.

No one was injured in the incident in Monte Mor, a municipality of 56,000 residents about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of Sao Paulo, the city hall said in a statement.

Sao Paulo police said the 17-year-old was arrested with explosives and a hatchet, and that he had been filmed removing these items from a car parked outside the school. Police also said they seized an airsoft gun and Nazi propaganda at the teenager’s home.

The Monte Mor city government published a photo of the suspect wearing a Nazi armband when he was arrested.

School attacks are uncommon in the South American nation, but have happened with somewhat greater frequency in recent years.

On Nov. 26, a former student armed with a semiautomatic pistol and a revolver killed four people and wounded 12 in two schools in the small town of Aracruz in Espirito Santo state in southeastern Brazil. He had a swastika pinned to his vest and had been planning the attacks for two years, police said.