A man threw a smoke bomb at Japanese Prime Minister Kishida

It was only last July that a man with a homemade gun murdered Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as Abe was giving a speech at a campaign rally. Today, something similar happened as current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was about to give a campaign speech in western Japan not far from where Abe was killed.

Advertisement

TV footage shows Kishida standing with his back to the crowd. His security detail suddenly points to the ground near him, and the prime minister whips around, looking alarmed. The camera quickly turns to the crowd just as several people, including uniformed and plainclothes police officers, converge on a young man wearing a white surgical mask and holding what appears to be another device, a long silver tube…

It wasn’t immediately clear what the explosive device was or how many the suspect had, but some reports said it was a smoke or pipe bomb, possibly with a delayed fuse…

Saturday’s attack comes ahead of nationwide local elections, including several by-elections for vacated parliamentary seats, with voting scheduled for April 23.

Ultimately no one was hurt but the scene was a lot scarier than it sounds from the description. This clip shows the bomb being hurled toward Kishida, who has his back turned, followed by a scramble to get him away from the area. The thing that looks like an artist’s portfolio is actually a ballistic shield used to protect someone from bullets or shrapnel.

From another angle you can see the security guy actually kicked the device away from the PM’s feet and then unfolded the shield. This guy deserves a commendation for acting quickly.

Advertisement

Fortunately, it seems the bomb thrower mis-timed the fuse so it was about 50 seconds after he tossed it that the device went off. Here’s a version of the NHK video. Almost as soon as the device lands the camera swings to the crowd where people are tackling the man who threw it.

If you pause the video you can see he has another device in his hand as people are wrestling with him. It looks like a homemade pipe bomb. Close-up screen grab below:

The older man in the red snowflake sweater and the one with the blue hoodie were both local fisherman, not part of the security team. Here’s an interview with the guy in the blue hoodie. PM Kishida reportedly called them both to thank them.

Despite it looking pretty serious and creating quite a loud boom when it went off, the media seems to be downplaying it somewhat. It’s being described as a “smoke bomb.” I’m not expert but I’m thinking if that was a steel pipe, it could have created some dangerous shrapnel if it had gone off at Kishida’s feet.

Advertisement

The attempted bomber has been identified as 24-year-old Ryuji Kimura. Nothing about a possible motive has been revealed yet.

PM Kishida tweeted out a statement after the attack. This reads “We are now holding elections, the most important part of democracy for our country. I have to ask each and every one of you, who are the main players in this country, to clearly show your thoughts. With that thought in mind, I continue to stand on the stage of street speeches. I am determined to carry this important election through to the end, working together with the people.”

He did indeed continue his campaigning later in the day Saturday before returning to Tokyo.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement