On July 13 2021, a fight broke out between police officers and a Romani family in the municipality of Vitòria da Conquista. 4 people were killed, including 2 policemen. Brazilian Romani organisations are denouncing a wave of violent attacks against Roma people since the confrontation. Local human rights organisations indeed say that after the incident, the police has been promoting the hunt & massacre of the Romani families living in the region, whether or not they were involved in any way in the fight.
More than 20 people have now been shot & 6 (between the age of 13 and 28) have died since the confrontation occurred. The cars & homes of several Romani families have been set on fire, forcing them to leave in fear for their safety and those of their children. A twitter video is circulating right now of a 14 year old boy being shot and killed.
Actually, yes! There was a very popular Brazilian soap opera which was centered on Romani people. I'd argue that for most people that is their only cultural reference to Romani people and it doesn't paint them in a negative light at all.
That said, it's not very often that the topic of Romani people comes up - as I said, the soap opera is the only access into Romani culture for most people - and I've never seen a Romani community or someone who identified as Romani, so I may have the wrong impression.