Brazil judge gives 3 former officers long sentences for killing of Black man in trunk

Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A judge has handed down long sentences to three former officers of Brazil’s Federal Highway Police over the 2022 death a Black man who was killed by asphyxiation inside an SUV’s smoke-filled trunk. Video of officers forcibly keeping Genivaldo de Jesus Santos, 38, in the back of their police vehicle as a dense cloud of what appeared to be tear gas emerged from the car sparked outrage across Brazil and protests in Umbauba, in the northeastern state of Sergipe. Jurors found the officers guilty of torturing and killing the man at the end of a 12-day trial. Justice Rafael Soares sentenced the officers to 23 to 28 years in prison for homicide and torture resulting in death.