The New York Times - USA (2020-12-02)

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 A

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RIO DE JANEIRO — The assailants
arrived in the sleepy city in southern
Brazil just before midnight ready for bat-
tle: They wore head coverings and body
armor, and were armed with powerful ri-
fles and loads of explosives.
Over nearly two hours, the gunmen
held the city of Criciúma hostage, shat-
tering the nighttime calm with explo-
sions and volleys of gunfire. They used
people as human shields while they deto-
nated explosives at a bank, sending a
plume of bills flying into the air, and shot
at an overwhelmed police force.
“It was a surreal scene,” said Clésio
Salvaro, the mayor of the city of about
220,000, said in a televised interview
Tuesday morning. “The city was left in a
state of panic.”
The audacious attack on Criciúma was
the latest in Brazil to target a relatively
small city with poor defenses, where se-
curity analysts say they have good odds
of overpowering and dodging law en-
forcement officers that deal mainly with
petty crime. Criminals have carried out a
handful of similar attacks in such places
this year, rather than in the metropolises
where large, well-equipped police forces
have experience battling violent crime
and powerful gangs.
Samira Bueno, the executive director
at the Brazilian Forum of Public Safety,
noted that this was one in a string of
brazen attacks on banks in recent years
that appear to be ripped from “the scene
of a movie.”
They stand out even in a country with
some of the highest crime and homicide
rates in the world, where bank robberies
are hardly uncommon. In recent years,
gangs have attempted to dig their way to
millions through tunnels, detonated dy-
namite to rob banks and have blown up
cash machines.
In this latest assault, analysts said a
team of roughly 30 gunmen arrived in a
convoy of 10 vehicles from outside the
state, Santa Catarina, and had planned
the operation meticulously. Officials
have not said how much money they
made off with.
Ms. Bueno said it was striking how po-
lice officials were unable to stop the at-
tack.
“It’s curious to see how unprepared
the security forces were to deal with this
incident,” she said. “Clearly it was the
work of a group that is highly organized
and specialized.”
Elected officials looked weary and
shellshocked when they addressed re-
porters Tuesday morning at a news con-
ference.
“The operation was successful for the
criminals, that’s the truth,” Santa Catari-
na governor Carlos Moisés da Silva said.
“They pulled off what set out to do.”
Police officials in Santa Catarina said
the gunmen opened fire outside the 9th
battalion of the military police, which
oversees security in the city, before head-
ing downtown and taking aim at the local
branch of the Bank of Brazil.
The gunfire left a security guard and a
police officer wounded. Police officials
said the officer underwent surgery and
described his condition on Tuesday
morning as “serious.”

“The criminals clearly planned, pre-

pared and invested beforehand,” An-

selmo Cruz, a police supervisor, told re-

porters Tuesday morning. “This points

to a group that came from outside. We

don’t have criminals with this profile in

Santa Catarina.”

There are several drug trafficking

gangs in Brazil that have carried out so-

phisticated robberies, but the authorities

did not point to any of them as suspects.

Several residents of Criciúma who

were shaken from their sleep by the

blasts and bursts of gunfire managed to

record snippets of the attack from win-

dows and balconies using cellphones.

Some photos and videos showed men

sitting in a file along a street. Local news

reports described them as a human

shield that prevented police vehicles

from reaching the bank.

Daniel Freitas, a congressman who

lives near the bank that was attacked,

said he assumed the bursts that awoke

him and his family were fireworks.

“What happened was unprecedented

for people from Criciúma and Santa Ca-

tarina,” he said. “The shooting was unre-

lenting. It was constant gunfire and

bombs.”

Bruno Adriano Della, a 20-year-old

resident, said he had been woken up by

gunfire.

“The whole city was in shock, and with

gunshots everywhere. Nobody knew

what to do,” he said. “We were just pray-

ing that it would end.”

He said the assault reminded him of

scenes from the film “Money Heist,” the

Spanish crime drama that follows rob-

bers carrying out elaborate heists.

Video footage widely shared on social

media showed people grabbing what ap-

peared to be cash off the streets in the af-

termath of the attack.

“It was pretty terrifying,” said Gus-

tavo Inacio, 21, adding that the assault

had been concentrated in the central

parts of the city. “I couldn’t sleep out of

fear that they would come to the other

neighborhoods.”

Law enforcement officials said investi-

gators from across Santa Catarina,

neighboring states and the federal gov-

ernment had been mobilized to search

for the gunmen.

“All the police forces in the state of

Santa Catarina are working jointly to

track down information and identify the

perpetrators of this crime,” Paulo Ko-

erich, the chief of the civil police in the

state, said in a statement. “We will not

tolerate these criminal actions in the

state of Santa Catarina.”

‘State of Panic’: Thieves Overpower Police in Brazilian City

GUILHERME FERREIRA/REUTERS

30 Gunmen Use Bombs

To Topple Bank Branch

This article is by Ernesto Londoño, Livia
Albeck-Ripkaand Elian Peltier.

Ernesto Londoño reported from Rio de
Janeiro, Livia Albeck-Ripka from Mel-
bourne, Australia, and Elian Peltier from
London. Reporting was contributed by
Manuela Andreoni, Daphné Anglès,
Letícia Casado and Yan Zhuang.

Clockwise from top: a police officer checking a bag recovered with money after a bank robbery in Criciúma, Brazil; police officers outside the Bank of Brazil the

morning after the heist; officers inspecting the remnants of explosives. A squad of heavily armed robbers struck early Tuesday, overtaking the local police force.

GUILHERME HAUN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES GUILHERME HAUN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Seok-jin,
the oldest member of the global K-pop
phenomenon BTS, turns 28 on Friday. On
Tuesday, South Korea’s Parliament gave
him an early birthday present.
Mr. Kim’s birthday could have marked
the end of his current career as a K-pop
star. Until now, all able-bodied South Ko-
rean men have been required to enlist in
the military for about 20 months once
they turn 28, if not sooner.
South Korea’s National Assembly, en-
amored of BTS’s global success, came to
Mr. Kim’s rescue by passing a revision of
the country’s Military Service Act. The
revised law lets top K-pop stars like Mr.
Kim postpone their military service until
they turn 30. Mr. Kim, who goes by his
stage name Jin, will now be able to per-
form for two more years at what could be
the height of his career.
The news instantly electrified BTS
fans, who call themselves the Army.
“What a day to be alive,” one follower
wrote on Twitter.
Under the revised law, K-pop enter-
tainers who have received government
medals for helping spread or elevate the
country’s cultural influence around the

world can apply for deferment of their

military service. All seven members of

BTS meet that requirement. They were

awarded the medal in 2018.

The announcement of the so-called

BTS law is a long sought-after victory for

fans of male K-pop stars. Under South

Korea’s conscription system, military

duty has been billed as a sacred rite of

passage for all young men. The govern-

ment has allowed some exceptions, but

its criteria have come under scrutiny in

recent years.

For decades, top athletes, like Olympi-

ans or Asian Games medal-winners,

have been excused from military service

on the grounds that they enhance na-

tional prestige. Draft exemptions are

also granted to classical and folk musi-

cians who win certain awards. K-pop

fans have argued it is unfair that world-

class K-pop stars are denied that privi-

lege, even though K-pop has become a

global phenomenon.

When members of well-known boy

bands report for boot camp, crowds of fe-

male fans from across Asia often gather

to bid them farewell.

Lawmakers introduced a bill for revis-

ing the Military Service Act in Septem-

ber, after BTS became the first-ever

South Korean group to top the United

States Billboard Hot 100 singles chart

with the song “Dynamite.”

“It’s a sacred duty to defend our coun-

try, but that doesn’t mean that everyone

has to carry a weapon,” Noh Woong-rae,

a senior lawmaker in the governing

Democratic Party, said in an October

statement supporting special treatment

for BTS.

In South Korea, more than 200,

young men each year have to interrupt

their studies or careers to join the mili-

tary. Conscription is seen as crucial to

the country’s defense against North Ko-

rea, and South Korea cannot afford too

many exemptions.

After decades of low birthrates, the

country will soon lack enough young

men to maintain its conscripted military

at 620,000 members, defense officials

say.

In October, the Military Manpower Ad-

ministration, which oversees the draft,

said that although it would not exempt

top K-pop stars from military service, it

would let them at least postpone it.

K-pop phenomenon BTS. South Korea revised a law to let top K-pop stars postpone military service until they turn 30.

LEE JIN-MAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

South Korea Makes Exception

To Allow K-Pop Royalty in BTS

To Avoid Conscription, for Now

By CHOE SANG-HUN