Death on eve of Brazil’s Black Consciousness Day sparks fury

Demonstrators use a crowd control barrier to smash into the entrance of a Carrefour supermarket during a protest against the murder of black man Joao Alberto Silveira Freitas (Andre Penner/AP)

A black man died after being beaten by supermarket security guards in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre on the eve of Friday’s Black Consciousness Day observations, sparking outrage after videos of the incident circulated on social media.

A short clip showed one guard restraining Joao Alberto Silveira Freitas just outside the doors of a Carrefour supermarket while the other pummelled him with repeated blows to the face.