Man arrested for throwing firebombs at LDP headquarters

A man was arrested after throwing several petrol bombs at the headquarters of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) yesterday and crashing his van into a fence in front of the prime minister’s office, police said.

No injuries were reported in the incident, which occurred just over a week before general elections in which new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hopes to strengthen his mandate.

The man, identified by police as Atsunobu Usuda, 49, of Saitama, was arrested at the scene on charges of obstructing the performance of official duties, although additional charges may be added later.

Photo: EPA-EFE/JIJI PRESS

Although the motive for the attack was not immediately clear, Japanese media reports cited social media posts believed to be from Usuda, in which he complained about the amounts of money needed to run for public office under Japanese law, the which implies that Usuda had political ambitions.

The media also cited unnamed sources as saying that Usuda participated in protests against nuclear power plants. Usuda was not immediately available for comment.

Around sunrise yesterday, “he approached the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in a vehicle, got out and threw what appeared to be Molotov cocktails,” said a spokeswoman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

“He also entered the road in front of the prime minister’s office, crashing into a fence to prevent vehicles from entering, and then threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb at police officers after getting out of the car,” she added.

Japan Broadcasting Corp reported that the five or six Molotov cocktail-like objects hit a riot police vehicle, but the fire was quickly extinguished and no one was injured.

Several plastic tanks normally used to transport liquids were found in the man’s small white vehicle, the Asahi Shimbun and other media outlets reported.

The prime minister’s office is about a 15-minute walk from the LDP headquarters in central Tokyo.

Footage from the aftermath of the incident showed a dark blue riot police van whose front part was partially burned, while firefighters and police gathered at the scene.

“Democracy must never succumb to violence,” Ishiba said during a campaign in southern Kagoshima Prefecture, according to local media reports.

“This happened during the election campaign, but we will do everything to ensure that the elections and democracy are not destroyed by violence,” said the prime minister.

Japan will hold general elections on Sunday next week, in a test for Ishiba, who took office after winning the LDP leadership vote last month.