Niko Palhares

Antônio Rios Palhares a.k.a Niko Palhares (born February 24, 1966) is a Brazilian former racing driver who gained notoriety in 2024 for being fired from his government job after spreading anti-democratic messages against the government in the "digital militias" scandal.

Background

Racing career

Palhares began in Formula Ford^[1] and won the Formula Ford Festival in 1989. He moved to the British Formula Three Championship in 1990 competing in 6 races but not scoring.^[2] He moved to Italian F3 the next year and finished 11th in points.^[3] He was second in Italian F3 in 1992 with two race wins. In 1993 he competed in four Japanese F3 races and finished 12th in points. After taking 1994 off from high-level racing, he competed in the American Indy Lights series in 1995 for PacWest Racing for the first four races of the season with a best finish of 8th at Phoenix International Raceway and finishing 20th in points. That was the end of his professional racing career.^{[citation needed]}

Fake news controversy

In 2020, Palhares began working for Brazil's Supreme Federal Court.^[4] In 2024, Paulo Gonet fired Palhares for allegedly disseminating fake news and messages calling for a coup d'etat against the government.^[5]^[6]^[7]

References

^ Abril, Editora (1988-04-22). Placar Magazine (in Portuguese). Editora Abril.
^ South. United Kingdom: South Publications Limited. 1990.
^ Braz, Gabriella (2024-01-10). "Gonet demite assessor da PGR envolvido no inquérito das milícias digitais". Política (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-04.
^ "Gonet demite assessor da PGR que disseminou mensagens golpistas". Brasil 247 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
^ "Quem é Niko Palhares, bolsonarista demitido da PGR por Gonet". ISTOÉ Independente (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
^ PODER360 (2024-01-10). "PGR demite funcionário investigado por mensagens sobre golpe". Poder360 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Talento, Aguirre (August 23, 2023). "Aras tentou barrar inquérito após pedido de empresário, indicam mensagens". IOL (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved November 4, 2024.

External links

Niko Palhares career summary at DriverDB.com
Niko Palhares Indy Lights stats at ChampCarStats.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Vincenzo Sospiri	Formula Ford Festival Winner 1989	Succeeded by Dave Coyne

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[1] Abril, Editora (1988-04-22). Placar Magazine (in Portuguese). Editora Abril.

[2] South. United Kingdom: South Publications Limited. 1990.

[3] Braz, Gabriella (2024-01-10). "Gonet demite assessor da PGR envolvido no inquérito das milícias digitais". Política (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-04.

[4] "Gonet demite assessor da PGR que disseminou mensagens golpistas". Brasil 247 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-11-04.

[5] "Quem é Niko Palhares, bolsonarista demitido da PGR por Gonet". ISTOÉ Independente (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-11-04.

[6] PODER360 (2024-01-10). "PGR demite funcionário investigado por mensagens sobre golpe". Poder360 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[7] Talento, Aguirre (August 23, 2023). "Aras tentou barrar inquérito após pedido de empresário, indicam mensagens". IOL (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved November 4, 2024.

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