Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Crowds demand justice for murdered activist

Tens of thousands of people in Rio de Janeiro and other cities across Brazil have taken to the streets to mourn a murdered politician who had campaigned against police brutality.

Marielle Franco, a 38-year-old Rio city councillor, was viewed by many as a champion of women's rights.

Ms Franco and her driver were both shot dead while in her car on Wednesday.

Brazilian President Michel Temer called her murder an attack on democracy and the rule of law.

'Barbaric crime'

Public Security Minister Raul Jungmann has said the federal government will use all resources available to find her killers.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Marielle Franco was born in Favela da Mare, one of Rio's most violent shanty towns

"I'm here at the request of President Temer," he said at a press conference.

"I would like to tell the friends of relatives of Marielle that we will find those responsible and punish them for this barbaric crime," Mr Jungmann added.

"Justice will be done."

Ms Franco was returning from an event encouraging black women's empowerment in central Rio when a car drew alongside hers and nine shots rang out.

Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Marielle Franco's murder shocked the nation

She and her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes, were both killed, and her press officer, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, was injured.

Police officials said it appeared Ms Franco had been deliberately targeted.

She was shot four times in the head, and three bullets hit Mr Gomes.

Ms Franco was elected to the city council in 2016 and presided over the women's commission. She was a councillor for the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party.

Last month, she was chosen to be the speaker of the commission overseeing the deployment of federal security forces into Rio's favelas.

President Temer deployed the military in the state of Rio in February after a spike in violent crime during carnival.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Marielle Franco was buried before dusk at Rio's Caju Cemetery

The measure was approved by Brazil's Congress but has stirred controversy with some residents complaining about harassment.

Ms Franco, who grew up in Mare, a favela complex in the north of the city, has been an outspoken critic of the move to deploy the army and the federal police force.

On Tuesday, she posted on Twitter about the killing in the Manguinhos favela of a 23-year-old man, which the youth's family blamed on the military police.

"Another killing of a youth which could end up on the PM [military police] tally. Matheus Melo was leaving church. How many more will have to die before this war ends?" she asked.

Skip Twitter post by @mariellefranco Mais um homicídio de um jovem que pode estar entrando para a conta da PM. Matheus Melo estava saindo da igreja. Quantos mais vão precisar morrer para que essa guerra acabe? — Marielle Franco (@mariellefranco) March 13, 2018 Report

In another tweet she expressed her solidarity with the people of the favela of Acari.

"What is happening now in Acari is absurd!" she posted. "The 41st battalion of the military police is known as the battalion of death. Enough of trampling all over the population! Enough of killing our youth!" she wrote, adding a picture with the words "We're all Acari, stop killing us!"

Skip Twitter post 2 by @mariellefranco O que está acontecendo agora em Acari é um absurdo! E acontece desde sempre! O 41° batalhão da PM é conhecido como Batalhão da morte. CHEGA de esculachar a população! CHEGA de matarem nossos jovens! pic.twitter.com/SrSycFE5Sl — Marielle Franco (@mariellefranco) March 10, 2018 Report

The UN Human Rights Office in Geneva condemned the "deeply shocking murder of a well-known human rights defender" and called for a "thorough, transparent and independent" investigation to be carried out as soon as possible.

Amnesty International urged that the investigation be rigorous and focus on "the context, motive and responsibility" for the killing.</s>March 15 (UPI) -- A Brazilian city councilor for the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party was shot dead Wednesday in an ambush that's caused outrage and protests.

Councilor Marielle Franco had been speaking at an event with activists in Rio de Janeiro Wednesday evening. As she was leaving, a car pulled up and fired nine shots into her vehicle, killing Franco and her driver and wounding her press officer.

Franco, 38, was an outspoken critic of police violence and the deployment of the army into poor neighborhoods. As a young, black, lesbian female activist who grew up in the slums of Rio, she championed the underrepresented and was loved by other activists.

After news of her death, nationwide protests were scheduled with more than 70,000 people and organizations confirming planned demonstrations in Rio de Janeiro.

Franco was elected with the leftist Socialist and Freedom Party in 2016 as the fifth-most voted councilor in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second-largest city with a population of more than six million.

The Socialism and Freedom Party condemned the murders, saying the organization is angry and in pain.

"Marielle's role as councilor and human rights activist is proud of all the militancy of PSOL and will be honored in the continuity of her struggle. We cannot rule out the hypothesis of political crime, that is, an execution," the party in a statement. "We demand immediate and rigorous investigation of this heinous crime. We will not shut up!"</s>Brazilian activists are outraged over the drive-by assassination of outspoken critic against police corruption and Rio city council member, Marielle Franco. A series of protests have been called in the aftermath of Marielle Francos death.</s>RIO DE JANEIRO, March 15 (Reuters) - A popular Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman who was an outspoken critic of police killings of poor residents in shantytowns was gunned down in what police, prosecutors and even drug gang leaders said on Thursday looked like a political assassination.

Marielle Franco, 38, a rising star in the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), was killed along with her driver on Rio's dangerous north side around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night. Her press secretary survived the shooting.

Just weeks ago, the federal government decreed that Brazil's Army would take over all security operations through the end of the year in Rio, where murders have risen sharply. Franco harshly criticized that move on Sunday, saying it could worsen police violence against residents.

"It is far too soon to say, but we are obviously looking at this as a murder in response to her political work, that is a main theory," said a Rio de Janeiro public prosecutor, who spoke on condition that he not be named as he was not authorized to discuss the case.

Rivaldo Barbosa, head of Rio's Civil Police, told reporters that "one of the possibilities in analysis is, yes, an execution." He did not speculate on who may have been responsible.

An investigator with Rio's police force went further, saying the prime motive appeared to be Franco's calling out police for allegedly killing innocents in their constant battles with drug gangs.

Franco, who was raised and lived in the Mare complex of slums, long one of Rio's more dangerous areas, received over 46,500 votes in the 2016 election. That total was only bested by four of 51 council members.

On Sunday on her Facebook, Franco decried what she alleged to be the police killing of two boys during a police raid in an area called Acari.

"We must scream out so that all know what is happening in Acari right now. Rio's police are terrorizing and violating those who live in Acari," Franco wrote. "This week two youth were killed and tossed into a ditch. Today, the police were in the street threatening those who live there. This has been going on forever and will only be worse with a military intervention."

Calls to the police unit assigned to the Acari area were not returned. In a Sunday statement to the O Dia newspaper, police said they carried out an operation in the area, were fired upon by drug traffickers, returned fire but had no knowledge of any deaths.

Franco was raised and lived in Mare, a complex of slums where about 130,000 residents must contend with the presence of Rio's two most powerful gangs, the Red Command and the Pure Third Command. There are also militias often made up of off duty or retired police and firefighters, who are as feared as the gangs.

High-level members of both the Red Command and the Pure Third Command told Reuters their gangs had nothing to do with the killings. It was impossible to reach any militia members.

Raul Jungmann, who heads the federal government's newly created Public Security Ministry, said at an event in Sao Paulo that what Franco's killing was "a tragedy."

"Another lamentable daily tragedy that takes place in Rio de Janeiro. We must understand extremely well the reasons behind this and go after those responsible," he said. "But this does not put at risk the federal intervention."

Jungmann said that federal investigators would be involved in the investigation and that he had put Brazil's federal police at the disposition of local investigators.

Hundreds of mourners gathered outside Rio's city council building, where Franco's body briefly lay in state, while vigils and protests were planned in at least six other major cities across Brazil. About 150 members of the PSOL party carried flowers and signs into Brazil's federal Congress on Thursday demanding justice.

The United Nations office in Brazil and Amnesty International demanded a quick and transparent investigation into Franco's killing. (Additional reporting by Pedro Fonseca and Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Simoes in Sao Paulo and Anthony Boadle in Brasilia; Editing by David Gregorio)</s>RIO DE JANEIRO — A city council member and her driver were shot to death by two unidentified attackers on a downtown street Wednesday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second largest city where the military was put in charge of police a month ago after a surge in violence.

Rio’s Public Security Secretary Richard Nunes said in a statement there will be “full investigation on the assassination” of council member Marielle Franco and her driver. Franco had been a vocal critic of the city’s police.

Two police officials told The Associated Press that two men in a car fired nine shots into the vehicle carrying the 38-year-old Franco and her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes. A press officer was injured in the backseat, but survived, the officials said.

Both officials said it appeared Franco was targeted. The officials agreed to reveal details on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Brazil’s Public Security Minister Raul Jungmann said in a statement that federal police would help investigate.

On Feb.16, Brazil’s federal government put the military in charge of Rio’s local police amid a spike in violence. So far there are no indications of improvement in security in the city.

Franco was an expert on police violence and on Saturday accused officers of being overly aggressive in searching residents of gang-controlled shantytowns.

A member of a leftist party, Franco was known for her social work in slums and she received the fifth most votes among council members elected in 2016. She was in her first term in office. Her party called for a match Friday to protest violence in Rio.

Franco’s last post on Twitter called attention to police violence.

“Another homicide of a young man that could be credited to the police. Matheus Melo was leaving church when he was killed. How many others will have to die for this war to end?” she wrote.</s>Marielle Franco, a Rio de Janeiro city council member and activist who spoke out against police violence in the city’s slums, was shot to death in the Brazilian city on Wednesday night in a suspected assassination. Franco was only 38 years old. Her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes, was also killed when two unknown attackers fired an estimated nine shots into their car, silencing one of Brazil’s emerging voices for the underprivileged.

Protests are now being planned across the country for Franco, a member of a leftist, socialist party who reportedly identified as part of the LGBT community and was elected to the Rio city council in 2016. She was known as an outspoken critic of police officers accused of using aggression in the city’s favelas, or slums, where she worked amid gang violence.

“More than a friend, Marielle was a symbol of our biggest conquests,” journalism student Daiene Mendes told The Guardian. “A woman like us, black, from the favela, who had a lot of strength to face the institutional challenges of the politics that always kept us distant.”

Franco’s shooting death came even after military members were put in charge of policing the streets of Rio last month, following a spike in violence. Rio’s chief of public security, Richard Fernandez Nunes, promised a full investigation into Franco’s death. Officials tell the Associated Press that it appears Franco was targeted, a suspicion shared by Franco’s supporters.

“The scene is clearly of an execution,” Marcelo Freixo, a legislative assemblyman in Rio and fellow member, with Franco, of the Socialism and Liberty Party, told The Guardian after rushing to the scene of Franco’s death. “The shots were all directed at her. They were all from a professional.”

Franco’s loss is being mourned today in Rio, with Brazil’s former President Dilma Rousseff calling her a “tireless social warrior” in a statement: “Sad days for a country where a human rights defender is brutally murdered.” Supporters are also remembering her online, with one calling Franco “a brilliant feminist activist, human rights defender, loving partner, and good friend . . . we have lost one of our rays of hope in Brazil.”

Some are pointing out that the day before she died, Franco tweeted about yet another violent death in Rio: “One more young person killed that might be added to the list of military police victims,” she wrote in Portuguese. “Matheus Melo was walking out of church. How many more people need to die before this war ends?”</s>A city council member and her driver have been shot dead by two attackers on a downtown street in Rio de Janeiro in what appeared to be a targeted assassination.

Richard Nunes, Rio’s head of public security, said there would be a “full investigation” into the killing of council member Marielle Franco and her driver, which came despite the military taking charge of policing the city last month after a surge in violence.

Two police officials told Associated Press that two men in a car fired nine shots into the vehicle carrying the popular 38-year-old councillor and her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes. A press officer in the back seat was injured, but survived, the officials said.

Both officials said it appeared Franco was targeted.

Franco was a black woman who defied the odds of Rio politics to win the fifth highest vote count among council members when she was elected in 2016. She was an expert on police violence and on Saturday accused officers of being overly aggressive in searching residents of gang-controlled shantytowns.

A member of a leftist party, Franco was also known for her social work in slums. She was in her first term in office. Her party called for a march on Friday to protest against violence in Rio.

One of Franco’s last posts on Twitter called attention to police violence.

“Another homicide of a young man that could be credited to the police. Matheus Melo was leaving church when he was killed. How many others will have to die for this war to end?” she wrote.

Brazil’s public security minister, Raul Jungmann, said federal police would help investigate her killing.

On 16 February, Brazil’s federal government put the military in charge of Rio’s local police amid a spike in violence. So far there are no indications of improvement in security in the city.</s>Less than two hours before she was murdered on the evening of March 14, Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco was speaking at a roundtable of black women activists about “young black women moving the structures”.

As Franco was leaving the site, a car pulled up to the side of her own vehicle and fired nine shots into it. Franco and her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes, were killed on the spot. The councillor's press officer, who was in the backseat, was hit by glass fragments and injured but survived.

Bearing all the hallmarks of an execution, the attack has sent shockwaves through Brazil including social media. Nationwide protests have been scheduled for the next couple of days. More than 70,000 people and organisations have confirmed their presence in the demonstration in Rio de Janeiro.

Marielle Franco was elected with the leftist Socialist and Freedom Party (PSOL) in 2016 as the fifth most voted councillor in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second-largest city with a population of over six million.

As a young, black, favela-bred lesbian woman activist, she championed several underrepresented demographics in Brazil's institutional politics and was beloved by activists across the country.

Marielle Franco was born and raised in the Maré favela, the largest complex in Rio and home to 130,000 people. In 2005, Franco's best friend was killed there during a confrontation between police officers and drug dealers. That episode drove her into human rights advocacy and activism against police violence.

A fierce critic of Rio's deadly police, she had been appointed in late February 2018 as the main rapporteur for the commission of Brazil's municipal assembly to monitor the ongoing army intervention in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil's army took over the city's public security in early February in response to gang violence despite criticism from local non-governmental organizations and the United Nations’ Human Rights Council.

She had openly criticized the intervention and compared it to a similar operation in her native Maré favela during the 2014 World Cup.

Franco consistently spoke out, both from the pulpit and on her social media pages, against extrajudicial killings of Rio's poor and mostly black favela residents.

Just this week, she made a series of posts on Facebook about the ongoing violence in the Acari favela:

Franco called attention to a news story that reported five shoot-outs in the favela over the course of seven days:

Police lethality in Brazil is staggering. In 2016, 920 killings by police were documented in Rio de Janeiro alone, up from 419 in 2012, according to Amnesty International. A report by Public Security Forum, a national research institution, counted 4,224 killings by police officers in the whole country in 2016, with 99 percent of them being men and 76 percent black. Many of those homicides may amount to extrajudicial killings, a crime under international law.

On social media, organisations, political parties and civil profiles used hashtags asking for a throughout the investigation of Franco's murder.

The Feminist Network of Jurists stated on Facebook:

Her party PSOL issued an official statement saying that the hypothesis of a “political crime” could not be discarded, since “she had just denounced a brutal action” by the police.

‘We cannot wait another 10 years or think that I will be there for another 10′

Sociologist and public security specialist Luiz Eduardo Soares, a close friend to Franco, remembered how the attack echoes that of Judge Patricia Acioli, also killed in a drive-by shooting in 2011. Accioli had been overseeing a number of cases involving paramilitary groups (called ‘militias’ in Rio).

During the black activists’ roundtable that Franco had joined hours before being killed, she said:

Franco remembered two black women politicians who had come before her, ten years apart from each other, urging:</s>Just weeks ago, the federal government decreed that Brazil's army would take over all security operations through the end of the year in Rio, where murders have risen sharply. Franco, part of a commission to oversee the military intervention, harshly criticised the move on Sunday, saying it could worsen police violence against residents. Assassinated: Rio city councillor Marielle Franco in a photo from her official Facebook page. "It is far too soon to say, but we are obviously looking at this as a murder in response to her political work, that is a main theory," said a Rio de Janeiro public prosecutor, who spoke on condition that he not be named as he was not authorised to discuss the case. Rivaldo Barbosa, head of Rio's Civil Police, told reporters that "one of the possibilities in analysis is, yes, an execution." He did not speculate on who may have been responsible. Posters depicting councillor Marielle Franco on a wall the day after she was murdered, in Rio.

An investigator with the city's police force went further, saying the prime motive appeared to be Franco's calling out police for allegedly killing innocents in their constant battles with drug gangs. Political violence is common in Brazil - but typically in smaller or more impoverished cities. In February, Brazilian President Michel Temer ordered an army general oversee security in Rio de Janeiro. "This is certainly an attack on the rule of law and an attack on democracy," Temer said in a video published on social media. He delayed a previously-scheduled event at the presidential palace to hold a cabinet meeting on Rio's security, and said the federal police was willing to help with the investigations. Her violent death underscores challenges in reducing bloodshed in Brazilian cities, many of which rank among the most violent in the world. Violence is particularly intense in Rio de Janeiro, where criminals frequently clash with police forces, causing the shutdown of major motorways and disrupting the local economy. Public order has become a central theme ahead of this October's presidential election.

A sign with a message that reads in Portuguese: "Stop Killing Us!" makes up part of a makeshift memorial for Franco. A day before she was killed, Franco asked on Twitter how many more deaths would be necessary for the situation to improve. Commenting on the death of a youth, she said: "One more homicide of a young man that may be put towards the police count. Mathews Melo was leaving church. How many more need to die for this war to end?" On Sunday on her Facebook page, Franco also decried what she alleged to be the police killing of two boys during a police raid in an area called Acari. "We must scream out so that all know what is happening in Acari right now. Rio's police are terrorising and violating those who live in Acari," Franco wrote. "This week two youth were killed and tossed into a ditch. Today, the police were in the street threatening those who live there. This has been going on forever and will only be worse with a military intervention."

In a Sunday statement to the O Dia newspaper, police said they carried out an operation in the area, were fired upon by drug traffickers, returned fire but had no knowledge of any deaths. Thousands gather during a protest against the death of councillor Marielle Franco. Thousands gathered to watch Franco's coffin enter the state assembly building in downtown Rio on Thursday afternoon, with local media providing blanket coverage of the cortege. As night fell, huge crowds marched in central Rio and Sao Paulo in protest at her murder. Public figures from across Brazil's political spectrum expressed outrage over the killing. Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles, who is contemplating a bid for the presidency, said the assassination underscored the need of the Rio military operation. "Those who did this need to be punished," Meirelles said. Members of Franco's family and her party were unaware of any threats against her life, according to local media.</s>RIO DE JANEIRO — A police official in Rio de Janeiro says a city council member and her driver have been shot to death by two unidentified attackers in the Brazilian city’s downtown.

The official tells The Associated Press that nine shots were fired into the car carrying Marielle Franco and her driver Wednesday night. He says it appears Franco was targeted. The official agreed to reveal details on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Franco was an expert on police violence and on Saturday accused officers of being overly aggressive in searching residents of gang-controlled shantytowns.

A member of a leftist party, Franco was known for her social work in slums and she received the fifth most votes among council members elected in 2016.
Brazilian politician and outspoken police critic Marielle Franco is killed along with her driver in a drive-by shooting in Rio de Janeiro.