A man who allegedly made threats to lead paramilitary groups in storming the Kaohsiung City Government and “to kill politicians” was tracked down yesterday, police in Tainan said.
Police officials said an unemployed man surnamed Lee (李), who is in his 50s, is the suspect in the case.
He was reportedly upset by the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) loss in the Kaohsiung mayoral by-election on Saturday, which former vice premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) of the Democratic Progressive Party won by a huge margin.
Photo: Ko Yu-hao, Taipei Times
Kaohsiung police opened an investigation after a netizen reported that a man using the handle “undertaker isis” had posted a call for a “violent insurrection against Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] government officials” in a Line group made up of hardcore supporters of former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).
“We must carry out this attack! I shall be the first one to storm inside, I do not fear death,” the netizen said the post read.
The alleged poster said that he had lived in China for 10 years, starting in 1999, and had killed many Japanese who stayed behind in China after World War II.
Police investigators traced the poster’s Internet protocol address to a Tainan resident, and reportedly found messages matching the alleged Line threats on his smartphone.
The suspect was later handed over to Kaohsiung police for questioning.
In contrast to the tough-talking fighter image projected in the Line messages, television news reports showed the suspect to be frail and using a cane to walk, stumbling as he was escorted by police into a police station in Kaohsiung.
Investigators said Lee lives alone and suffers from some health problems.
Kaohsiung police said that Lee would likely face charges for “intimidation to endanger public safety.”
Meanwhile, Chen toured Kaohsiung yesterday by motorcade to thank voters for their support.
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