A man was arrested after throwing several suspected gasoline bombs at the headquarters of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) yesterday and ramming his van into a fence outside the prime minister’s office, police said.
No injuries were reported in the incident, which came just more than a week before a general election in which new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hopes to shore up his mandate.
The man, identified by police as Atsunobu Usuda, 49, of Saitama was arrested on the spot on charges of obstructing the performance of official duties, although additional charges can be added later.
Photo: EPA-EFE / JIJI PRESS
Although the motive for the attack was not immediately clear, Japanese media reports cited social media posts believed to be Usuda’s, in which he complained about the sums of money required to run for office under Japanese law, implying that Usuda had political ambitions.
The media reports also quoted unidentified sources as saying Usuda had participated in protests against nuclear plants. Usuda was not immediately available for comment.
At about sunrise yesterday, “he approached the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party in a vehicle, got out and threw what appeared to be Molotov cocktails,” a Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman said.
“He also drove into the road in front of the prime minister’s office, crashing into a fence to prevent vehicles from entering, and then threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb towards police officers after getting out of the car,” she added.
Japan Broadcasting Corp reported that the five or six Molotov cocktail-like objects hit a riot police vehicle, but the fire was quickly extinguished and no one was injured.
Several plastic tanks usually used to carry liquids were found in the man’s small white vehicle, the Asahi Shimbun and other media outlets reported.
The prime minister’s office is about a 15-minute walk from the LDP headquarters in central Tokyo.
Images from the aftermath of the incident showed a dark blue riot police van whose front section was partly burned away, as firefighters and police officers gathered at the scene.
“Democracy must never succumb to violence,” Ishiba said while campaigning in southern Kagoshima Prefecture, local media reports said.
“This happened during the election campaign, but we will do everything to ensure that elections and democracy are not destroyed by violence,” the prime minister said.
Japan is to hold a general election on Sunday next week in a test for Ishiba, who took office after winning the LDP’s leadership vote last month.
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