You shall live; and you shall die. Leonardo Sakamoto examines his country’s necropolitics in the light of Black Lives Matter.
João Pedro Matos Pinto was a 14-year-old black boy. On 18 May, he was playing with his cousins when the house in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro state, was invaded by police. He was killed by a rifle shot that pierced his body from stomach to shoulder. The police claimed they were chasing suspects, but his family say the story is false. Community leaders counted 72 bullet holes in the house. João’s father said he only got good marks at school.
João Pedro is one of the many Brazilian George Floyds.
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