Instead, police said, the swimmers got into an early morning altercation at a gas station, and a security guard pointed a gun at them. Many Brazilians have been outraged by the swimmers story, particularly after glaring holes emerged in their account. On Thursday, as Brazilian newspaper began reporting new details of the swimmers allegedly damaging property at a gas station, the outrage began to pour out. After the American swimmers cooperated with authorities and the potential punishment seemed limited Thursday, observers predicted it would not strain relations between the United States and Brazil. Rubens Antonio Barbosa, Brazil’s ambassador to the United States from 1999 to 2004, described the American swimmers case as a “minor incident.”“This is a police case,” he said in a telephone interview.

Source: Washington Post August 18, 2016 22:03 UTC