Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleBrazilian police thwarted a bomb plot at Lady Gaga's Rio concert, ensuring safety for over 2 million attendees. Arrests were made across several states.
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian police said on Sunday that they had thwarted a bomb attack planned for Lady Gaga's historic concert that drew over 2 million people to Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.
The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro state, working in coordination with the Justice Ministry, said the plot was orchestrated by a group promoting hate speech and the radicalization of teenagers, including self-harm and violent content as a form of social belonging.
According to the Rio city hall, 2.1 million people attended the concert of the American pop icon.
"The suspects were recruiting participants, including minors, to carry out coordinated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails," the police said in a statement.
The Justice Ministry said the recruiters identified themselves as members of Gaga's global fan base, known as the "Little Monsters."
The operation was based on a report by the ministry's Cyber Operations Lab following a tip-off from Rio state police intelligence, which uncovered digital cells encouraging violent behavior among teenagers using coded language and extremist symbolism.
A man described as the group's leader was arrested in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul for illegal possession of a firearm, while a teenager in Rio de Janeiro was detained for storing child pornography.
Authorities carried out over a dozen search and seizure warrants across the states of Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso, Rio Grande do Sul and Sao Paulo.
(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Mark Porter)
The planned attack was targeting Lady Gaga's concert at Copacabana Beach, which attracted over 2 million attendees.
The plot was orchestrated by a group promoting hate speech and radicalization among teenagers.
Brazilian police arrested a group leader and detained a teenager, while executing over a dozen search and seizure warrants across multiple states.
The suspects were planning to use improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails for the coordinated attacks.
The operation was based on a report from the Justice Ministry's Cyber Operations Lab, which followed a tip-off from Rio state police intelligence.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
