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Brazilian official resigns after saying mass prison killings should happen more often

Relatives of inmates gather at the main gate of the Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex to ask for information after a riot at the prison left at least 60 people killed and several injured, in Manaus, Amazonia state, Brazil on January 2, 2017.
Relatives of inmates gather at the main gate of the Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex to ask for information after a riot at the prison left at least 60 people killed and several injured, in Manaus, Amazonia state, Brazil on January 2, 2017. (MARCIO SILVA/AFP/Getty Images)

RIO DE JANEIRO – The Brazilian government’s national secretary of youth has resigned after celebrating the deaths of inmates killed in prison uprisings.

Youth Secretary Bruno Julio resigned Friday. He had earlier declared that more inmates should be slain and there should be a mass prisoner killing per week. He also said the problem with prison killings is that “there aren’t enough of them.”

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At least 31 inmates were slain Friday in northern Brazil, some with their hearts and intestines ripped out during killings led by the country’s largest gang.

READ MORE: 50 inmates dead, several escape after Brazil prison riot

The bloodshed came just days after 60 inmates were killed during rioting at two prisons in a neighbouring state. It increased fears that violence could spread, including to the streets of major cities, as gangs vie for control inside prisons and in slums.

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Meanwhile, two more bodies were found inside the prison of Monte Cristo in Roraima during an inspection on this Saturday. But police still don’t know if they were also killed in the massacre.

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