At Vila Cruzeiro, in the shantytown of the Penha complex in northern Rio, on October 31, 2025, demonstrators protested against the deadly police operation conducted on October 28. ANDRE COELHO/EPA/MAXPPP
"Murderer!" "Out, Castro!" In spite of the rain, hundreds of Brazilians gathered on Friday, October 31, starting at 1 pm on a football pitch in Vila Cruzeiro, in the shantytown of the Penha complex in northern Rio de Janeiro. Wearing white t-shirts stained with red paint, residents, motorcycle-taxi drivers and activists condemned the violence of the police operation carried out there and in neighboring favelas in the Alemão complex three days earlier, targeting the criminal faction Comando Vermelho.
At the same time, similar gatherings took place in 19 other cities across the country. Many signs held by protesters accused the far-right governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Castro, of organizing a "massacre."
According to the latest count from officials, at least 132 people were killed during the operation launched on Tuesday, including four law enforcement officers. The Public Defender's Office (the public legal aid service for the State of Rio de Janeiro) reported 132 deaths. Whatever the final toll, one thing was certain: This was the deadliest raid in Rio's history.
