Tokyo police arrest man after firebombs thrown at ruling party’s office
KYODO via REUTERS
Police investigate a car stuck against a fence, near the entrance to the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo today.
Police investigate an incident outside the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party, where according to local media, what appeared to be a Molotov cocktail was thrown, in Tokyo, Japan October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
TOKYO >>Tokyo police said today they had arrested a 49-year-old man who threw what appeared to be Molotov cocktails at the headquarters of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party earlier in the day.
He also allegedly crashed his van into the security fence outside the prime minister’s office, which is close to the LDP headquarters in Nagatacho, and threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb at police officers, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department said.
The man, identified as Atsunobu Usuda, was arrested on the scene for obstruction of official duties, the spokesperson said.
The incident took place amid the campaigning for a general election that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has called on Oct. 27.
Japanese media reported there were no injuries in the incident, which happened before 6 a.m. local time.
Television footage showed about a dozen plastic containers in his vehicle.
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Local media quoted Ishiba as saying democracy should never give in to violence. He was in Kagoshima in southern Japan on Saturday.
LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama said the party will continue campaigning as scheduled, according to local media.
