Brazilian cameraman killed in Rio shoot-out during police drugs raid - Polidicks

[release] [IMG]http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2011/11/6/1320609204655/Colleagues-mourn-Gelson-D-007.jpg[/IMG]A Brazilian journalist mourns the death of his colleague Gelson Domingos da Silva, shot during a police operation against drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro. Photograph: Fernando Quevedo/Agencia O Globo/EPA A Brazilian television cameraman has been killed while filming an intense shoot-out between police and drug traffickers that claimed at least four other lives in Rio de Janeiro. Gelson Domingos da Silva, an experienced crime photographer working for the Bandeirantes TV network, was reportedly hit in the chest by a high-calibre rifle shot while covering a dawn special forces raid on the Antares favela in western Rio. One photograph published in the Brazilian media showed Domingos, 46, moments before he was shot, [URL="http://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/brasil/rj/policial-militar-diz-que-era-o-alvo-de-tiro-que-matou-cinegrafista-da-band/n1597355951407.html"]crouching behind two rifle-toting military policemen and a roadblock improvised from a tree trunk[/URL]. A second photograph showed the cameraman's lifeless body in a police car. Authorities in Rio have earned widespread praise for their pioneering "pacification" scheme, which has seen [URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/12/rio-de-janeiro-police-occupy-slums"]more than a dozen slums cleared of heavily armed drug gangs[/URL]. But Sunday's shoot-out, in which four alleged drug traffickers also lost their lives, was a reminder that outside the tourist areas and the region around Rio's Maracanã World Cup final stadium, the situation remains critical. Gangs armed with war-grade arsenals continue to control tracts of the city and clashes with police remain commonplace. As the weapons used in Rio's drugs conflict have become more powerful, the risks for journalists covering police operations have grown. Yet under Brazilian law, local media workers are not permitted to use bulletproof vests capable of withstanding high-calibre rifle fire. In an interview with one local newspaper, an unnamed journalist who witnessed Domingos' death criticised the equipment provided to Rio's frontline reporters: "These bulletproof vests are crap. They are [made of] paper." Friends and colleagues paid tribute to Domingos, a father of three, who was believed to be the first journalist killed in Rio while covering a police operation. In a 2008 interview with the Guardian [URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2008/feb/14/brazil"]Severino Silva[/URL], a crime photographer who had worked alongside Domingos, described his gruelling daily routine. "When I get to a story the first thing I think is: [URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/15/brazil.internationalcrime"]I have to make it out alive[/URL]," he said. "For you it's your work, one more day at war, one ore day that you have to go back home." "The [bullet-proof] vest protects us against shrapnel, some things like that. But in truth the only thing protecting us is God," he added. Speaking after his colleague's death Silva described Domingos as "an experienced guy used to covering this kind of story".[/release] [URL]http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/06/brazilian-cameraman-killed-drugs-raid?newsfeed=true[/URL] Footage of incident: [video=youtube;Qjf9qigDoto]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjf9qigDoto&feature=player_embedded[/video]

oh shit [editline]8th November 2011[/editline] what kind of shitty law doesn't let a cameraman protect himself from that

It's tragic but he sort of was standing right behind a police officer who was shooting, that's not a very safe place to be in a cartel gunfight.

wow, if they were allowed proper vests he'd still be alive

I'm always kinda sensitive to these type of news. My mother is a journalist, back when I was young she had to cover a shoot-out in a prison, she almost got shot, but her cameraman wasn't that lucky. He was shot in a shoulder. It damaged his arm badly, couldn't hold a camera, thus left without a job.

I'm not surprised, he was stood right behind one of the cops who is going to be a target. Tragic, yes, avoidable, yes [editline]8th November 2011[/editline] If that's supposed to be a ballistic vest that the cameraman's wearing on the image in the op, then I wouldn't be surprised if the bullet that killed him was .22

That's such a crazy video

[QUOTE=barttool;33184061]I'm always kinda sensitive to these type of news. My mother is a journalist, back when I was young she had to cover a shoot-out in a prison, she almost got shot, but her cameraman wasn't that lucky. He was shot in a shoulder. It damaged his arm badly, couldn't hold a camera, thus left without a job.[/QUOTE] My grandfather was a journalist too. His cameraman got hit by artillery/went on a mine and died :/

Kind of reminds me of Ernie Pyle.

What did he expect would happen? I mean, seriously?

This might sound horrible but, seeing as I'm viewing this whole thing from the outside, why do they not just flatten the favellas? They sound like such shit-holes, with no power and no running water. Why not just initiate a state-housing program, temporarily house favella occupants, and then build nice new apartment complexes on where they used to stand?

I love the massive difference between video game shoot outs and actual real life shoot outs.

Wow, what shitty ballistic vests they are wearing. Anything short of a ballistic plate and you should really just not bother in such unstable situations. Also lol urban camouflage. What a fucking joke.

[QUOTE=ewitwins;33194642]This might sound horrible but, seeing as I'm viewing this whole thing from the outside, why do they not just flatten the favellas? They sound like such shit-holes, with no power and no running water. Why not just initiate a state-housing program, temporarily house favella occupants, and then build nice new apartment complexes on where they used to stand?[/QUOTE] Because they already did that. Welcome to the favelas. During the 50s and 60s Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil and the government instated this housing initiative. The slogan was "no house, no money, no problem" and basically cities would just ship all their poor people off to Rio. The problem then was that you had thousands more people than expected, and the government could not support it. There is a new initiative (although not restricted to the Favelas, it's a nationwide initiative), that essentially translates to "My house, my family." The government will subsidize new government built housing and will make tenants pay low rent after a certain period of time. It's a better system no doubt since it is all across Brazil, but there is no immediate solution to the favelas that wouldn't be a violation of human rights or such a massive infrastructure, government, and monetary problem.

Video was sad, the camera made me think it was his vision.

[QUOTE=GunFox;33194775]Wow, what shitty ballistic vests they are wearing. Anything short of a ballistic plate and you should really just not bother in such unstable situations. Also lol urban camouflage. What a fucking joke.[/QUOTE] Well to be fair, that's only one division of the Rio police. Everyone else wears sensible clothing. [img]http://i.imgur.com/BhkXx.jpg[/img] In fact, I have no idea where they came from, since during the entire operation that took place last November, no a single picture depicted a cop wearing urban camo.

Plus, Favelas have become a place for gangs and pimps to do their monkey business, so you should expect lots of riots and violence.

Aren't all these an attempt to make their country looked good for the upcoming world cup?

[QUOTE=Ignhelper;33194977]Aren't all these an attempt to make their country looked good for the upcoming world cup?[/QUOTE] Yes.

[URL="http://www.facepunch.com/threads/1138859"]Isn't Brazil some sort of mystical land of zoophilia,[/URL] the same place that, when they asked people if they ever had sex with an animal, 35 percent of them said yes? Also I just had to add zoophilia to my spell check's dictionary, and I dont know how I feel about that.

He's standing right behind an officer? He might as well have run across to get the drug dealer's side of the story.

Operating any sort of anti-gang/anti-drug/[B]ANYTHING[/B] in the Favela's would be nothing short of terrifying. So many buildings and hiding spots in such a small vicinity spells death.

i am from brazil, but i live on another state , rio de janeiro is north from were i live , i live in santa catarina (south of brasil) and i think you guys dont know but a great movie about the favelas you guys should see is Tropa de elite shows a lot os reallity about the B.O.P.E (rio de janeiro's S.W.A.T) and the drug trafic i recomend a lot this movie

[QUOTE=Xain777;33196329][URL="http://www.facepunch.com/threads/1138859"]Isn't Brazil some sort of mystical land of zoophilia,[/URL] the same place that, when they asked people if they ever had sex with an animal, 35 percent of them said yes? Also I just had to add zoophilia to my spell check's dictionary, and I dont know how I feel about that.[/QUOTE] No not really. The far rural areas maybe, but there are high numbers of beastality in multiple developer countries as well. I am glad you just classified an entire country of more than 100 million people as zoophiliacs. [editline]9th November 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=gauntled00;33197978]i am from brazil, but i live on another state , rio de janeiro is north from were i live , i live in santa catarina (south of brasil) and i think you guys dont know but a great movie about the favelas you guys should see is Tropa de elite shows a lot os reallity about the B.O.P.E (rio de janeiro's S.W.A.T) and the drug trafic i recomend a lot this movie[/QUOTE] No way? I'm from Joinville. A better movie is City of God though, that's the perspective from inside a favela from a kid that lives there. I HIGHLY recommend it.

[QUOTE=Edthefirst;33199378]No not really. The far rural areas maybe, but there are high numbers of beastality in multiple developer countries as well. I am glad you just classified an entire country of more than 100 million people as zoophiliacs.[/QUOTE] The Welsh put up with it, so can you.

[QUOTE=Edthefirst;33199378]No not really. The far rural areas maybe, but there are high numbers of beastality in multiple developer countries as well. I am glad you just classified an entire country of more than 100 million people as zoophiliacs. [editline]9th November 2011[/editline] awesome i live in rio do sul No way? I'm from Joinville. A better movie is City of God though, that's the perspective from inside a favela from a kid that lives there. I HIGHLY recommend it.[/QUOTE] i live in rio do sul

I'm terribly sad but i couldn't help but laughing about how unprotected the camerman in the picture is i mean, don't they have an GG vest for fat guys like that? Almost all of his belly is showing up lol

I feel awesome knowing that all of a sudden Brazilian officers/shoot-outs are considered "cool" out there. Rio de Janeiro must be tense as fuck, I'm from the south too, and even here the crime rates are absurd. You guys should watch Tropa de Elite (Elite Troop I guess) 1 and 2.