Brazil’s Supreme Court said it would investigate former President Jair Bolsonaro for inspiring the far-Right mob that invaded and ransacked the country’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential offices this week, a swift escalation in the probe that shows the former leader could soon face legal consequences.

In a decision late on Friday, Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court justice, approved a request from federal prosecutors to include Bolsonaro in a rapidly expanding investigation into the anti-democratic riots on January 8.

Moraes, who has emerged as one of the nation’s most powerful figures in recent months, said that Bolsonaro’s past questioning of Brazil’s election system and his attacks on Brazil’s institutions, including the Supreme Court, “may have contributed, in a very relevant way, to the occurrence of criminal and terrorist acts”, including Sunday’s storming of government buildings.

The decision illustrates the aggressive tack that Brazilian authorities have taken in response to the riots.