On Sunday, Brazilian police announced that they had successfully prevented a bomb attack intended for Lady Gaga’s historic concert, which attracted over two million attendees to Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.
The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, in collaboration with the Justice Ministry, reported that the plot was orchestrated by a group promoting hate speech and radicalizing teenagers through self-harm and violent content as a means of social belonging.
According to the Rio city hall, approximately 2.1 million people were present at the concert of the American pop icon.
In a statement, the police revealed, “The suspects were recruiting individuals, including minors, to execute coordinated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails.”
The Justice Ministry reported that the recruiters claimed to be part of Gaga’s global fan community, known as the “Little Monsters.”
This operation stemmed from a report by the ministry’s Cyber Operations Lab, which followed a tip from Rio state police intelligence. The investigation revealed digital groups promoting violent behavior among teenagers through coded language and extremist symbols.
A man identified as the group's leader was arrested in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul for illegal firearm possession, while a teenager in Rio de Janeiro was detained for possessing child pornography.
Authorities executed more than a dozen search and seizure warrants across the states of Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso, Rio Grande do Sul, and São Paulo.
