Blogger Ricardo Gama was shot three times the morning of Wednesday, March 23 in Copacabana in southern Rio de Janeiro, according to O Globo. The blogger was taken to the hospital where he was in serious condition, reported Estado de São Paulo.
An outspoken critic of the governor, Sérgio Cabral, and the mayor, Eduardo Paes, Gama gained notoriety in August 2010 when he published a student video of then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva saying tennis is a "sport of the bourgesie.”
The blogger was attacked by individuals in a car who shot him in the head and chest, added O Repórter. Police are investigating possible motives, but they have ruled out that it was a robbery attempt, as nothing was stolen from the victim, explained Folha de São Paulo.
Reporters Without Borders asked police to find out of the attack was in reprisal for the blogger's work. “Coverage of organized crime exposes Brazilian journalists to serious threats," the organization said in a statement. Further, the organization said that the Brazilian press suffers not only from violent crime, but also harassment by local authorities, which is a "form of censorship that also affects bloggers."
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
