August 30, 2026 | 04:39 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United Indonesian People's Movement (GRIB Jaya) explained the viral video of its chairperson, Rosario de Marshal, also known as Hercules, at the site of the riots in Jakarta on Thursday, August 27, 2026.
The Head of the Legal Division of the Central Executive Board of GRIB Jaya, Wilson Colling, stated that Hercules was present at the location not to participate in the protest that led to the riot. He mentioned that his client came to observe the security situation and conditions during the incident.
"The presence was part of persuasive efforts to monitor the situation and maintain the conducive environment, not to aggravate the situation, provoke, or be involved in physical clashes," said Wilson in his written statement on Saturday, August 29, 2026.
Wilson said that GRIB Jaya did not instruct its members to participate in the protest-related activities either. He mentioned that Hercules had also conveyed the call not to join the demonstration through various internal GRIB Jaya media.
"Therefore, the presence of certain individuals in a location cannot be immediately interpreted as a representation of organizational actions, especially without evidence of orders, coordination, or involvement in a criminal act," said Wilson.
Wilson regretted the various narratives related to the viral video of Hercules circulating on social media. He argued that these narratives were engineered to make it seem like GRIB Jaya was involved in the riots. According to Wilson, these narratives were only sourced from video clips and thus lost their context.
"Therefore, the public needs to be careful. Someone should not be declared involved simply because they are seen at the location," he said.
The Jakarta Metropolitan Police are currently investigating allegations of community organizations' involvement in the riots that occurred on Thursday night. The Head of the Public Relations Division of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, Commissioner Budi Hermanto, declined to comment on the alleged involvement of Hercules at the riot location to disperse the crowd.
"We will delve into it, because there are numerous disinformation, provocations, and hoaxes on social media," said Budi.
Videos showing a crowd allegedly from the GRIB Jaya group during the riot that followed the protest at the Parliament (DPR) Building have spread on social media. According to the video recorder, GRIB Jaya descended upon the riot location to assist the security forces in dispersing the crowd.
In the video recordings, the alleged GRIB Jaya group was seen unloading bamboo sticks from a truck to disperse the protesters. They appeared to be wearing white headbands around the Parliament building.
Read: Police Name 45 Suspects in Jakarta Unrest
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