Revista Oeste
The lawn of the expansive garden ends where the concrete sidewalk begins. That's the invisible boundary that limits 40-year-old Débora Rodrigues's steps. Though she's allowed to go out in the street, she avoids it, fearing her ankle monitor will go off. In the house with a small farmstead atmosphere in Paulínia, inland in the state of São Paulo, there are no prison bars beyond the walls. Still, it feels like they surround the hairdresser who became infamous for scrawling, in lipstick, the phrase "you lost, dumbass" on the Statue of Justice, in front of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) building. The expression had been uttered months earlier in New York by then-STF Justice Luís Roberto Barroso. "Sorry for the mess — it's been a while since I've had visitors here," Débora said shyly, leading the Revista Oeste reporters to the TV room just a few steps away. The simple space is decorated with family portraits. Entering through the wooden door one immediately faces a mosaic of photos hanging on the wall. The images capture Débora's wedding to painter Newton dos Santos and the birthdays of their two sons, Caio and Rafael. Débora Rodrigues, o marido Newton dos Santos e os filhos Caio e Rafael | Foto: Rodrigo Prata/Revista Oeste Agony in prison Sitting on a sofa in front of a window that lights up the room, Débora crosses her legs and scratches the area where the ankle monitor sits. "It’s really uncomfortable," she explains, referring to the device she's worn since leaving prison in March 2025, after justice Alexandre de Moraes authorized her return home. The gadget reminds her of the morning of March 17, 2023, when Federal Police (PF) agents took her away. Débora was sleeping with her husband and kids in the same bed when she heard loud knocks at the gate. While Newton, already suspecting who it was, answered the agents, a frightened Débora ran and locked herself in the bathroom. From there, she tried calling a lawyer but got no answer. Still in her pajamas, she hesitated to come out when the police entered the house and only left after warnings that the door would be broken down. With a court warrant, the PF began ransacking every room. In the living room, Débora tried to calm the children, telling them she'd only go to give a statement and would be right back. Shortly after, she left the house in handcuffs. The next two years and 11 days were a "personal hell," as she describes it. Shuttled back and forth between Rio Claro and Tremembé in inland São Paulo, Débora was transferred multiple times between prison units. With no idea how long she'd be locked up, she endured what she calls a "hostile" environment. The cell's stench was one of the first things that stuck with her. "I'll never forget it," she said. "A strong reek of feces, urine, and cigarettes." At first, she was alone in a cramped cell with almost no light. She even got lice, which caused itching fits. When there was water, it was cold — and often carried traces of vulture feathers from the birds circling the complex. With the light filtering through cracks, Débora could read the Bible her family had given her. When she started sharing the cell with other inmates, fear set in: how would they receive her? Most of the women were leftists. At first, she hid the reason for her imprisonment, claiming she was a drug trafficker. The lie didn't last. Questions piled up, and she couldn't keep up the story. The reaction was swift: the other women turned hostile toward her. During that time, she went days without family contact. Visits weren't authorized yet, and she had no clue when she'd see her sons again. The uncertainty amplified her isolation. When she finally reunited with relatives, she saw the emotional toll of the separation. Caio, the oldest, no longer smiled like before. "I chose that name because it means 'joy,'" she said. "But he stopped smiling." During one transfer (unannounced to her defense team) to the Tremembé unit, she faced what she considers the hardest moment. Another inmate threatened to kill her, and she went days without sleep due to the cold. She stayed there 45 days before returning to her previous unit. In that period, she worked to reduce her sentence and keep her mind busy while awaiting STF updates. "Three days of work count as one day off," she explained. She sent the money she earned from prison jobs to her husband to help pay the lawyers. Her defense always pushed for house arrest, especially because of her sons, now 11 and 8. But Moraes denied every request. The same benefit had been granted years earlier to Adriana Ancelmo — ex-wife of the former governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio Cabral — who was jailed due to Operation Car Wash. Moraes's indifference matched that of the Attorney General's Office (PGR), which took over a year to formalize the indictment—grounds alone for nullifying pretrial detention. The PGR consistently argued to keep the hairdresser in a closed regime. They only changed their tune when the case, relentlessly covered by Revista Oeste from day one, started getting attention from the old mainstream press. Débora Rodrigues com a tornozeleira eletrônica | Foto: Rodrigo Prata/Revista Oeste In one ruling, Moraes justified keeping her jailed due to her "social dangerousness." "The request to replace pretrial detention with house arrest does not prosper," the justice ruled. "In this case, exceptional restriction of freedom of movement remains possible, given the social dangerousness and gravity of the conduct attributed to the defendant, as per the PGR indictment." That stance held through her conviction, bolstered by other arguments: "Débora [Rodrigues] dos Santos destroyed and contributed to the destruction, disablement, and deterioration of federal property by advancing on the National Congress and STF headquarters, doing so with violence against persons and serious threats, use of flammable substances, and causing considerable damage to the Union." January 8th Between January and March 2023, before her first arrest, Débora lived in constant tension. The photo of her writing on the STF statue had gone viral on social media. News outlets were hunting to identify those involved in the acts. Débora got several calls from the photo's author—a Folha de S. Paulo journalist — but ignored them. Silence, she says, was her way of grasping the extent of the case's repercussions. Amid the nationwide mobilization after the 2022 elections, Débora traveled to Brasília the day before the acts, believing it'd be a peaceful protest. She wanted to get answers on the Superior Electoral Court's process and to voice criticism of the newly inaugurated government. Na entrada da casa de Débora Rodrigues tem um mosaico de fotografias pendurado na parede. As imagens registram o casamento de Débora com o pintor Newton dos Santos e os aniversários de Caio e Rafael, os dois filhos do casal | Foto: Rodrigo Prata/Revista Oeste On the morning of January 8th, Débora went with the group to the Ministries Esplanade. That's when she wrote "you lost, dumbass" in lipstick on the statue at a man's request from the protest. According to Débora, she never imagined it'd blow up like it did. "I deeply regret what I did that day," she admitted. Life on hold Today, Débora's routine is confined to her home in Paulínia. On house arrest, she's tracked by the ankle monitor and needs court approval to leave. Simple things like resuming work as a hairdresser or attending in-person church services are off-limits. Most of her time goes to housework and watching her sons, whose routines were also upended by her imprisonment. The kids still show emotional scars from the separation. Whenever they hear sirens on the street, they fear mom will be taken again. Faith has become central to the family. An evangelical in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Débora says Bible reading got her through the darkest prison days — and remains her main support. Now, she's trying to rebuild step by step. Despite the restrictions, she hopes her legal situation gets reviewed: "I just want to go back to living normally with my whole family." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJL0BSBLkFQ Read more at: “Convicted by the actual cruelty” and “The latest absurdities of January 8” O post The lipstick lady apareceu primeiro em Revista Oeste .
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