Torres' failure to act as thousands of Bolsonaro supporters overran government facilities is "potentially criminal," Supreme Court says.
Brazil's former justice minister Anderson Torres, who was in charge of public security in Brasilia during the invasion of government buildings a week ago by pro-Bolsonaro mobs, was arrested in Brasilia on suspicion of "omission" and "connivance".
Torres was arrested after returning to Brazil on Saturday.
He had been on vacation in Florida, the same US state his ex-boss, former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, had travelled to after losing last year's election.
The ex-minister said on Thursday that evidence produced by police was taken out of context when his home was raided this week.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Torres' arrest on Tuesday.
Thousands of so-called "bolsonaristas" invaded the seats of government in the capital on Sunday, breaking windows and furniture, destroying priceless works of art, and leaving graffiti messages calling for a military coup.
Brazilian police found a draft decree in the home of Torres on Thursday which they said appeared to be a proposal to interfere in the result of the October election that Bolsonaro lost to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Upon learning of Moraes' detention order, Torres said on Tuesday that he would interrupt his holiday and return to Brazil to hand himself in.
Justice Minister Flavio Dino had given Torres until Monday to return, after which he said he would have started extradition procedures.
READ MORE: Top Brazil court greenlights probe of Bolsonaro for Brasilia rampage
Net tightens around rioters
Brazil's new leftist government has tightened the net around suspected instigators of riots that targeted the seats of power.
More than 2,000 alleged rioters were detained after the riots, and the authorities are tracking those suspected of having masterminded and financed the revolt that shocked Brazil and the world.
Torres and Bolsonaro have both denied involvement in the January 8 riots.
In a note seen by the AFP news agency, Bolsonaro's defence blamed the violence on "infiltrators" and said he "never had any relationship or participation in these movements."
In the wake of the violence, many rioters claimed — without evidence — that left-wing agitators were the real culprits.
"When the 'bolsonaristas' arrived (at Congress), everything was already broken," one told AFP-TV.
Many of the rioters were fuelled by Bolsonaro's anti-"communism" rhetoric against Lula, who had served two previous terms as president from 2003 to 2010.
The attorney general's office has identified 52 individuals and seven companies suspected of having helped pay for transport and food for the rioters.
READ MORE: Brazil tightens screws on Bolsonaro ally after Brasilia rampage
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