On January 8, 2023, thousands of far-right and Christian extremists dissatisfied with the defeat of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, attempted a coup in Brasilia. Rioters assaulted the Presidential Palace, the Federal Supreme Court and the National Congress. They called for a military intervention to remove the newly elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. After hours of confrontation Brazilian special forces managed to disperse the protesters. In the picture, a woman protected by a demonstrator in a bulletproof jacket prays on her knees in front of a riot police cordon.
Antonio was born in Sicily in 1985. He is graduated in Foreign Languages and modern Cultures at the University of Palermo. In 2016 he study a post-graduation course in Documentary Photography at the Idep school in Barcelona. In 2018 he began a collaboration with the photo agency AbacaPress, in 2020 with Sopa Images and in 2023 with Reuters News Agency. From 2019 he is working as freelancer from Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. His photographs have been published in The Guardian, DW, CNN, BBC, Mongabay, The Times, The New Yorker, Revista 5W, El Pais, Publico, Folha de São Paulo, Liberation, etc.
