A deadly police operation in Rio has turned into a political controversy, with residents demanding justice and Lula's allies accusing the governor of using the incident to shift attention away from his alleged softness on crime.

While Rio Governor hailed the operation as a victory against crime, hundreds of favela residents have marched through the alleys, carrying photos of the dead and chanting, ‘It wasn’t a war, it was a massacre’; Lula’s allies see the raid as an attempt to shift the spotlight to his alleged softness on crime