A massive police raid on a drug gang embedded in low-income neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro that left at least 119 people dead drew protests for excessive force Wednesday and calls for the Rio’s governor to resign.

Families of the dead decried what they described as executions by police, while the state government hailed a successful operation against a powerful gang.

The extraordinarily bloody episode shocked Rio, a city that is no stranger to scenes of gangs battling the police and each other. It also rattled Brazil just as the Latin American nation prepares to welcome delegations from around the world for the UN climate change conference, with events planned in Rio and the Amazonian city of Belem.

A state police operation targeting a major drug gang in Brazil has resulted in the deaths of 132 people in low-income neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro – the deadliest raid in the country’s history.