Overview
- The Copacabana supermarket dispute, which erupted Monday, led to the arrest of José Luis Haile, 67, after he allegedly twice called delivery worker Samara Rodrigues de Lima, 23, a racist slur.
- Municipal guards detained Haile in flagrante and took him to the 12th Police Station, and a custody hearing then converted his detention to preventive imprisonment with a transfer to the Benfica facility.
- Witness Juan Esteban García, an Argentine shopper who reported the incident to a nearby patrol, has described the scene to media and says he is ready to testify.
- Rodrigues de Lima says the episode left her shaken, she missed work the next day, and she criticized the supermarket staff for not stepping in during the confrontation.
- Under a 2023 reform that equates injuria racial with racism, the offense is not bailable at the police stage and carries two to five years in prison, and Haile’s claim of Brazilian residency could make it harder to leave the country than in January’s tourist case involving Agostina Páez.