SAO PAULO (AP) — One of the front-runners in Brazil's presidential campaign has been charged with racism by the country's attorney general.

Attorney General Raquel Dodge said Friday that she has charged conservative deputy Jair Bolsonaro for comments made one year ago in a speech in Rio de Janeiro.

In the speech, Bolsonaro compared members of rural settlements founded by the descendants of slaves to animals.

Dodge said Bolsonaro's comments were illegal, unacceptable and severely reproachable.

Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing in the case.

Dodge also charged Bolsonaro's son Eduardo, who is also a deputy, for threatening to attack a journalist.

Polls put the conservative lawmaker in second place in October's presidential election, behind jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Da Silva is likely to be barred from running by electoral authorities.