The video below captured the moment former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed during a campaign speech in western Japan on Friday July 8, 2022. The killer was later identified as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami.
Citing Japanese defense sources, NHK reported that Yamagami served in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force for three years in the 2000s. Why did he kill the former Prime Minister?
Per the Washington Post, “the apparent gunman, a 41-year-old unemployed man from Nara named Tetsuya Yamagami, told investigators he believed that Abe was linked to a group he hated, police said. Police have declined to identify the group, citing the ongoing investigation.
Many things were just wrong.
“It is undeniable that there were problems with the security for former prime minister Abe, and we will immediately identify the problems and take appropriate measures to resolve them,” said Tomoaki Onizuka, head of Nara Prefecture Police, at a Saturday news conference.
The alleged assassin who shot dead Shinzo Abe on Friday believed the former Japanese prime minister was involved in a “specific organization” — and that his grudge wasn’t political, police said.
Police did not reveal the name of the organization or elaborate on what it believed in, adding it wasn’t clear if the group even existed. Source: Nypost.
According to The Hill, investigative sources told The Japanese Times that Yamagami said he attacked Abe because he believed the former prime minister promoted a religious group that caused his mother to go bankrupt.
The shooter allegedly told authorities he initially planned to attack a leader of this religious group, to which his mother made large donations, before setting his sights on Abe.
The apparently light security protections for Abe on the day of the assassination have attracted scrutiny in the aftermath of his death.
Cars were passing behind the former prime minister while he spoke, as the road was not blocked off for his speech, and the crowd was only feet from him, The Japanese Times reported.
Japan’s National Police Agency said it will be investigating if there were any flaws in Abe’s security, per the outlet.
During his speech, Abe was to be protected by a team made up of authorities from the Nara prefectural police department’s security division and Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department.
The head of the Nara prefectural police, Tomoaki Onizuka, on Saturday said that there were “undeniable” issues with the former prime minister’s security and vowed that a “thorough investigation” would be conducted, according to The Guardian.
“I believe it is undeniable that there were problems with the guarding and safety measures for former prime minister Abe,” Onizuka said.
“In all the years since I became a police officer in 1995 … there is no greater remorse, no bigger regret than this,” he added.
It’s just so weird how he wasn’t given adequate security, the roads weren’t blocked off during his campaign speech, and movement was even allowed behind his back as reported.
It’s just so sad! Condolences to the bereaved family
From The New York Times:
When Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, he told the police he had “a grudge” against a “certain group.” But the authorities haven’t identified the organization or explained its connection to Mr. Abe.
Scrutiny, amid a swirl of Japanese media speculation, is now focused on the Unification Church, the Christian group known for its mass weddings and efforts to cultivate relationships with conservative political parties worldwide.
At a news conference on Monday, church officials detailed the organization’s ties to Mr. Yamagami’s mother, describing her as a longtime member. She had joined the church in 1998 but lost touch with the group for a long period before returning earlier this year, Tomihiro Tanaka, the head of the church’s Japan branch, said.
© Neshan H. Naltchayan/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, celebrating his birthday with his wife in 2000 in Washington.
The Unification Church was founded in South Korea in 1954 by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. It later expanded overseas, building a network of newspapers and civic organizations that it used to develop ties with conservative political parties around the world. It also generated questions about its recruiting and business practices. In the 1970s and 1980s, the group faced lawsuits over soliciting funds and charges of “brainwashing” by parents who said their children had been forced to join.
The church established its branch in Japan in the late 1950s, and it soon found common cause with right-wing Japanese politicians, including Mr. Abe’s grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, over their shared animosity for Communism.
Ties between church-affiliated organizations and members of the ruling L.D.P. developed in the following decades as the church grew in size and Japanese followers generated billions of dollars in income for the group.