“I enjoy seeing Americans in difficult situations,” he added.
Cavalcante, a 34-year-old Brazilian man serving a life sentence for the 2021 murder of his ex-girlfriend in front of her two young children, made a daring escape from Chester County Prison on August 31. He scaled walls, maneuvered through barbed wire, and sprinted across rooftops. However, he is also wanted in Brazil for a 2017 shooting that resulted in a man’s death.
Cavalcante’s evasion of justice captivated Latin America, a region that, while admiring U.S. strength, resents its historical interference and exploitation. Some see him as a symbol of resistance against the powerful neighbor to the north.
“’A Brazilian man embarrasses U.S. police for almost two weeks,'” declared O Globo, a Rio de Janeiro-based newspaper, in its Wednesday print edition. Brazilian media outlets provided daily updates on the manhunt, while TikTok videos garnered millions of views. Memes featuring the crab-walking escape and images of Cavalcante circulated widely.
“Brazilians do not appear on any list,” wrote one Twitter user alongside an Interpol Red Notice with Cavalcante’s picture. “Danilo Cavalcante, a Brazilian in the United States, on the Interpol Red List. Look at this.”
Vera Iaconelli, a psychoanalyst in São Paulo, believes the fugitive’s rise as a cult hero is understandable.
“We are more likely to identify with the weaker side of the story—the man standing alone against a powerful institution with abundant resources, intelligence, and weapons,” she explained. “But in this case, he isn’t just the vulnerable side of the story; he is Brazilian, Latino, and represents a region that has historically suffered at the hands of the U.S.”
“May he survive to tell the tale,” tweeted Pires Bragança on Tuesday. After Pennsylvania state police captured Cavalcante, he expressed surprise to The Washington Post.
“I thought the police would kill him,” he said. “But now I really hope there is a film or documentary about him. I would like to understand his perspective on the escape, not the perspective of the murders he committed. The escape itself was spectacular.”
Iaconelli agrees, asserting,“There is a distinction between following the story with interest and being fascinated by the battle between the weak and the strong, and sympathizing with the crimes he committed. We wanted him to be captured in the end.
“It’s entertaining like a soap opera, and we want to see all the details. But it has to come to an end at some point. Otherwise, it stops being fun and becomes worrying due to the harsh reality of impunity.”
Eduardo Carlos, 27, has been creating 3D animations of Cavalcante’s escape on TikTok. “I have been fully immersed in this story for days,” he revealed. “I have multiple tabs open on my computer with American and Brazilian news articles, and I’m devouring all the information.”
The response has been overwhelming. His TikTok videos have attracted millions of views, and a report on Cavalcante’s capture amassed over 150,000 views within just a few hours.
“People want to see what happens next,” Carlos said. “They cheer for him. But I don’t believe they sympathize with his crimes. They sympathize with the struggle he faced and how he managed to outsmart everyone so far.”
