MP chief-of-staff says recent guard action is atypical

While Military Police (MP) Chief-of-Staff Kao Yao-bin (高耀斌) assured legislators on Monday that MPs would not tackle any protesters in the way security guards handled female protesters heckling the president on Sunday, Presidential Guard Deputy Commander Hsu Li-meng (許立孟) said yesterday that the man who tackled a female protester in Tainan on Sunday was indeed a military police officer.

"It was Major Lee Cheng-hsin (李正鑫) from the MP's Tainan Command Headquarters," Hsu said. "Lee said he is very sorry about what happened. He did not mean to be so forceful."

Hsu made his remarks, bowed and apologized while meeting People First Party lawmakers at the legislature yesterday morning. He said that the Presidential Guard Command Headquarters began to investigate the incident after it took place on Sunday.

Officers discovered Lee was the man accused in the incident, but he does not belong to the guard.

"He was helping out at the scene. He also explained that the lady's protest activities surprised him a bit so he decided to tackle her based on instinct since he was carrying out his mission as a presidential guard," Hsu said.

Hsu said that although Lee does not belong to the Presidential Guard Command Center, the center would not reprimand him because he was helping them out. He said the center would also offer an apology to the public.

When asked whether the president was fed up with the recent spate of hecklers and had asked his guard to "get rid of protesters" at will, Hsu said, "The president has never given any orders like that."