Brazilian Police Say They Thwarted Bomb Attack By Hate Group At Lady Gaga’s Record-Breaking Copacabana Concert

The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro say they thwarted a planned bomb attack by a hate group targeting children, teens and the LGBTQ+ community at Lady Gaga‘s record-breaking concert held at Copacabana Beach last night, which drew over 2 million attendees.

In a press release, the agency, in coordination with local officials, said it served 15 search and seizure warrants across nine cities in four states: Rio de Janeiro, Niterói, Duque de Caxias and Macaé, in the state of Rio de Janeiro; Cotia, São Vicente and Vargem Grande Paulista, in the state of São Paulo; São Sebastião do Caí in Rio Grande do Sul and Campo Novo do Parecis in Mato Grosso.

Dubbing it “Operation Fake Monster,” the investigation singled out those who were recruiting participants, including teens, to carry out the attacks utilizing improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails with the aim of gaining notoriety online. An unnamed man identified as the the leader of the group was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm in Rio Grande do Sul, and a teenager was arrested for storing child pornography in Rio de Janeiro, police said.

According to police, the digital-based group was promoting radical ideology among adolescents, including the spread of hate crimes, self-harm, pedophilia and violent content. The authorities said they also went to Macaé to serve a search and seizure warrant against an individual who threatened to kill a child live on air, charging him with terrorism and inducing crime.

“The operation was launched to neutralize the digital behavior that was being coordinated, with potential risk to the public at the event, without any impact on attendees,” the police wrote in the statement. “The work was carried out discreetly and precisely, avoiding panic or distortion of information among the population.”

On Saturday night, the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro also posted online that it had seized more than 200 sharp objects at the search points installed at the event entrances, sharing a video panning across various knives of different sizes.

At the conclusion of the show, which began around 10 p.m. local time, the institution wrote, “The mega show of @ladygaga in Copacabana has ended successfully! #PMERJ was present with reinforced staff and strategic actions to guarantee the safety of the public from start to finish. We remain firm in the mission of #ServireProteger.”

The Mayhem singer-songwriter’s free event, affectionately dubbed “Gagacabana,” drew a gargantuan crowd that surpassed Madonna’s previous record of 1.6 million people back at her Brazil concert in May of last year. Both events were held by and paid for by Rio de Janeiro in a drive to revitalize the state’s economy, with more shows planned annually every May for the next four years. Gaga’s concert is expected to generate around $100 million in revenue.

Attendees traveled nationwide and began queuing early in the morning, some before dawn, to gain access to the beach, which was overseen by an enormous security operation featuring 5,000 police officers, metal detectors, drones and facial recognition cameras. Over 500,000 tourists poured into Rio, more than double what was expected. To ensure fans could hear the performance, 16 sound towers were installed along the beach, per the Associated Press.

“You waited for me, you waited for more than 10 years for me,” an emotional Gaga told the crowds as she unfurled a Brazilian flag, per the BBC. (The “Abracadabra” musician last performed in Brazil in 2012, though she planned an event in 2017 that was canceled due to a hospitalization.)