Rio Police Thwart Bomb Plot at Lady Gaga Concert Attended by 2.1 Million, Arrest Two Suspects
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A plot to bomb a Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro was thwarted by local law enforcement, with two suspects arrested in connection to the planned attack. The concert, held on Copacabana Beach, attracted over 2.1 million attendees. The suspected mastermind, Luis Fabiano da Silva, was deported from the United States after living there illegally for over 27 years. He was arrested in Rio Grande do Sul on the day of the concert for illegal possession of a firearm and later released on bail, only to be rearrested after failing to appear at a subsequent court hearing.
The group, identified as disseminating hate and planning to target the concert's LGBTQIA+ audience, was using a messaging platform to organize the attack with homemade explosives, including Molotov cocktails. The operation, named 'Fake Monster', involved simultaneous searches across 13 locations in multiple Brazilian states and uncovered that the suspects were recruiting teenagers online to carry out the attacks under the guise of being part of Lady Gaga's fan community, the 'Little Monsters'.
In a separate incident, Igor Sousa da Costa, a 26-year-old architect from Goiás, disappeared after entering the sea at Ipanema Beach the day following the concert. He was in Rio with his boyfriend to attend the event. Search efforts by the Rio de Janeiro Fire Department continue, utilizing 30 military personnel, divers, boats, jet skis, drones, and helicopters between postos 8 and 9. On the day of the concert, the department recorded over 200 salvamentos in the area.
The concert also had a significant economic impact on Rio de Janeiro, bringing in over 600,000 tourists and generating an estimated R$ 600 million for the city's economy. The event saw a 26% increase in domestic flights compared to the previous year and a 96% occupancy rate in hotels in Copacabana and Ipanema. Security measures for the concert included about 5,000 officers, 78 observation towers, drones with facial recognition technology, and a dozen security cameras.
‘Die With A Smile’ by Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars’ record-setting performance at #1 on the Global Spotify chart:
1st day — 9.4 million streams
100th day — 9.9 million streams
200th day — 5.6 million streams https://t.co/yGpxjqlTF1
🚨 LOOK: “Die With A Smile”, by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, officially becomes the first song to spend 200 days in first place in Spotify's global daily history. https://t.co/41mMjwJGoz
