Brazilian police said on Sunday that the two were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to explode a bomb at a free Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro.
The event was the biggest show of the pop star’s career on Saturday, attracting around 2 million fans to Copacabana Beach.
The state police in Rio de Janeiro said they have worked with the Department of Justice to disrupt attacks planned by groups spreading hate speech against the LGBTQ community. Police said the group attempted to radicalize and recruit teenagers and carry out the attack using Molotov cocktails and improvised explosives.
“The plan was treated as a ‘collective challenge’ with the aim of gaining infamy on social media,” police said.
Authorities said they arrested two people in connection with the planned attack. A group leader on illegal weapons possession charges in the southern part of Rio Grande Dur and a teenager on child pornography charges in Rio.
Authorities said police attacked the locations of 15 suspects in several Brazilian states, confiscating phones and other electronic devices that were confiscated.
Lady Gaga’s spokesperson and concert promoter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Justice Department said that members of the group misrepresented themselves online as “Little Monster” (the nickname for Lady Gaga for fans) in order to reach teenagers and seduce them into a “network with violent, self-destructive content.”
Police said they quietly went on Saturday to “avoid panic or distortion of information between populations.” The ministry said it will not affect those who attend free concerts.
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