The photos of children killed by stray bullets between the years 2020 and 2024, in Rio de Janeiro, which were placed, this Saturday (28), in Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, were removed. The photo exhibition, organized by Rio de Paz, aims to denounce violence in the state. 
The initiative included photos of military police killed in conflict. The images remain in place.
The non-governmental organization Rio de Paz reported that it became aware of the act of vandalism, through a message posted on a social network.
“They only left the police officers’ license plates. A sadness! We have no idea of the motivation, much less who it was. We don’t know anything. We were warned by a follower who passed by Lagoa and notified us this morning via message on Instagram”, said the organization.
The founder of Rio de Paz, Antônio Carlos Costa, placed flowers at the site and stated that the intention is to redo the memorial, including the banner that was also taken.
“They removed a 10 meter strip, in which we drew the attention of those passing by this place, that 49 children were victims of stray bullets between 2020 and 2024 and they removed the photos of these boys and girls, the overwhelming majority of whom were residents of poor communities. We are back here, because we are not going to back down from this fight. It is unacceptable that in the midst of a democratic regime, we witness these deaths idly, without offering resistance to the most heinous face of crime in Rio de Janeiro”, he stated in a video sent by the NGO.
Costa asked the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, for security camera images so that those responsible for the vandalism could be identified. “We want to know the perpetrator of this act of vandalism, who for some reason took the photos of the children, but left the plaques alluding to the military police. We also use this space to remind society and the Public Power that military police officers are dying every day in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, because we understand that human rights have no side”, he stated.
Act
The posting of photos, this Saturday (28), against the death of children due to stray bullets, occurred just over a week after Rio de Paz promoted a protest in Copacabana condemning the murders.
The memorial in honor of the children killed by stray bullets was created in 2015, in the same place where a tribute was paid to doctor Jaime Gold, victim of robbery that year. Until yesterday, signs with the children’s names were in place, which were replaced by the photos used in the protest in Copacabana.
In total, there were 49 photos, including the last case, of the 4-year-old boy, Diego Vieira Fontes, killed with his parents, on Monday (23), in Paty do Alferes, in the south of the state.
Volunteers, fathers, mothers, family members and friends of the victims participated in the event.
