TOKYO, April 17 – NHK reported that the man, who was arrested on Saturday after an emergency with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, has been handed over to the public prosecutor’s office.
Police believe that the object thrown towards Kishida by Ryuji Kimura, and the same object in his hand at the time of the arrest, and later found on the ground, was an improvised pipe bomb. This is evidenced in particular by the explosives, pipes and tools seized from his home.
The head of the Japanese VIP security company commented on the incident with Kishida
Yesterday 12:57
On Monday morning, he was transferred to Wakayama Prefecture. Officially, he is suspected of “a violent attempt to interfere with the course of business.”
This is the second incident in Japan in the past year that an improvised weapon has been used in an attack on a senior politician: in July last year, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was killed with an improvised firearm.
An explosion sounded near the site of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s election campaign speech at a fishing port in Wakayama Prefecture on Saturday. When the Prime Minister approached the place where the speech was being given, a cylindrical metal object was thrown in his direction, and there was a loud bang that sounded like an explosion. Ryuji Kimura, the man who threw the metal object, is knocked to the ground and held up by the hunters from the crowd and the police who came to the rescue with a short interval. Kishida managed to turn at the sound of something falling behind him, but almost immediately a guard covered him with a bulletproof shield, after which the prime minister was taken away.
The sound of the explosion came about 50 seconds after Kimura was arrested and after Prime Minister Kishida was removed from the scene. He wasn’t hurt. Video footage shown by NHK shows that the moment Kimura was grabbed by the men from the crowd, he had another metal object in his hands, to which he tried to bring a lighter. Thus, two identical metal objects, resembling a pipe bomb, were seized from the scene: one was thrown towards the prime minister and exploded, the second was the first in the hands of Kimura, and then was found on the floor at the place of arrest. The home of Kimura, 24, was searched on Sunday. During the search, alleged explosives and a computer were seized. Kimura refuses to speak without a lawyer.
Japanese Prime Minister apologizes for the bombing incident
Apr 15, 07:21
