(AP Photo/Raysa Leite)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Jair Bolsonaro, a leading presidential candidate whose heated rhetoric has electrified some voters and angered others in a deeply polarized Brazil, was stabbed at a campaign event Thursday and suffered serious abdominal injuries. Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain whose far-right views have placed him ahead in the polls, was being carried on the shoulders of supporters in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais when he was suddenly attacked by someone in the crowd. Other videos show supporters carrying him to a car and hitting a man who appears to have been the attacker. Police say they have arrested a 40-year-old man identified as Adelio Obispo de Oliveria in connection with the stabbing. He didn’t expect to be arrested so quickly; agents reacted in seconds.”

Bolsonaro’s son, Flavio Bolsonaro, initially posted on Twitter that the injury was superficial and his father was fine. • His son tweeted that the candidate arrived at the hospital "almost dead" but his condition had stabilized. Two candidates on opposite sides of the political spectrum have been charged with corruption, and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had began a strong reelection campaign despite being sentenced to 12 years in prison for money laundering and corruption.
Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro is stabbed in the abdomen and seriously injured at a campaign rally. He is expected to be in intensive care for at least seven days. Police arrest a 40-year-old man they say appears mentally disturbed.