The Civil Police of Santa Catarina, together with nine other states in the country, completed this Monday (23) the first phase of Operation Trend, investigating the network of racism on the Internet.

Operation Trend is investigating a network of online racism and has executed 16 search and arrest warrants in the country – Photo: Civil Police/Disclosure/ND

16 search and arrest warrants were issued in Florianopolis and Joinville, as well as in 14 other Brazilian municipalities.

The investigation was launched after a video posted at the 2022 Oktoberfest in Blumenau sparked a wave of racist comments online.

The operation was launched by state civilian police in conjunction with the Department of Justice and Public Safety and received support from civilian police from nine states and the federal district.

Seized material

This phase of the operation included the completion of a preliminary analysis of material seized during the “ostensive” phase of the operation, which began on 5 October.

This Monday, 97 police officers responded to locations across the country to execute search and seizure warrants.

Several laptop computers belonging to persons involved in the investigation were seized by police. Three people are even minors.

“During the analysis, digital traces of the crimes under investigation were discovered, and it was also revealed that several suspects have an extremist profile with clear references to neo-Nazism,” the police statement said.

The operation began with a case in the SC

The investigation began with an incident that occurred at the Oktoberfest in Blumenau in 2022.

The crime happened last year when Marcio Jose Correa, 44, a black man, posted a TikTok video of his 12-year-old stepdaughter.

The two are dressed in typical party clothes. Soon, Marcio’s post began receiving racist and xenophobic comments.

Comments included phrases such as “something is wrong”, “I thought it was only white people”, “the crowd is also in the North East”.

A black resident of Blumenau was subjected to racism after posting a video wearing typical holiday attire; at that time the city of Blumenau dropped the claim – Photo: Divulgação/Redes Sociais/ND

According to the delegate in charge of the investigation, Arthur Lopez, the investigation into the case revealed a real map of racism.

“This shows that the problem affects the entire territory of the country and does not have a specific profile; were identified ranging from teenage girls to older men,” emphasizes Arthur.

“The spread of hatred has gone beyond freedom of expression, and these crimes committed in a virtual environment no longer have the anonymity that the perpetrators sought,” he concludes.

All work was carried out by the Directorate for Combating Crimes against Racism and Intolerance DEIC (State Directorate of Criminal Investigations) in Santa Catarina.