Former Japanese PM Shot. (Update: He has expired.)

[Arch Dornan]

Abe is officially dead, my condolences to the Japanese people even if I disliked him personally that doesn't mean I relish in his death or the trouble it will undoubtedly stir.

Hasn't stopped those that would be public about it.

 

[Agent23]

There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.

4th Turning in progress.

 

[Arlos]

RIP Abe, you did your best for your country while alive.

The world is tumbling down into the Abyss, and politicians have lost the know-how to salvage things, so used as they are to dictating things rather than negotiate them since the end of the cold war.

 

[Agent23]

The world is tumbling down into the Abyss, and politicians have lost the know-how to salvage things, so used as they are to dictating things rather than negotiate them since the end of the cold war.

Yup, 4th turning as per Strauss-Howe generational theory.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Rest in peace to one of the best Japanese Prime Ministers.

 

[DarthOne]

Japan’s former PM Shinzo Abe assassinated at campaign event

Japan's former PM Shinzo Abe assassinated at campaign event

The shooting of Shinzo Abe, Japan's former PM, has sent shock waves through the country where gun violence is extremely rare.

www.cnbc.com

• Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan, died Friday after being shot.
• Abe was attacked while delivering a speech in the city of Nara, near Kyoto.
• The incident has sent shock waves through Japan, a country where gun violence is extremely rare.

Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan, died Friday after being shot while delivering a speech.

The 67-year-old, the country’s longest serving prime minister, was shot while campaigning on behalf of the governing Liberal Democratic Party in the city of Nara, near Kyoto.

Gunshots were heard at around 11.30 a.m. local time, NBC reported, and Abe was taken to Nara Medical University Hospital’s emergency room.

“When he was brought to the hospital he was in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest,” Dr. Hidetada Fukushima, who operated on Abe, said at a news conference. “They tried to resuscitate him but at 17:03 he was pronounced dead.”

“He had gun wounds in two locations and died of heart failure from heavily damaged arteries,” the doctor added.

One person has been apprehended in relation to the shooting, NBC reported, citing officials.

After the gunfire was heard, a man was tackled by several people while the weapon lay on the street, according to a video that was verified by NBC.

Abe was not campaigning for a parliamentary seat himself, but was supporting the LDP ahead of elections for the country’s upper house of parliament Sunday. It is not clear whether the elections will go ahead as planned.

Current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the attack was “a despicable and barbaric act that took place in the midst of an election, which is the foundation of democracy,” adding that it was still being investigated.

The incident has sent shock waves through Japan, a country where gun violence is extremely rare. Gun rules are very strict in the country; handguns are banned and anyone who wants to own an air rifle or shotgun must undergo extensive training and checks.

Abe resigned as prime minister in August 2020, after serving two terms, due to his worsening health.

The former prime minister was known for his efforts to revive Japan’s economic growth through a range of stimulus policies which became known as “Abenomics.” The aim was to boost productivity, reform Japan’s corporate culture and bring down the country’s debt over the long term, although analysts have said it has had mixed results for the world’s third-largest economy.

International leaders respond
International leaders paid their respects to Abe following news of his death.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Abe a “towering global statesman, an outstanding leader, and a remarkable administrator,” in a tweet.
In a subsequent post, Modi said Abe “made an immense contribution to elevating India-Japan relations.” The Indian prime minister said the country would hold a day of national mourning on July 9.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Abe a “wonderful person, great democrat and champion of the multilateral world order.”

Before the death of Abe was confirmed, Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, said he was “saddened and shocked” by the news of the shooting.

“Abe-san has been an outstanding leader of Japan and unwavering ally of the U.S,” Rahm tweeted.

Abe has been widely credited with boosting Japan’s presence on the world stage.

He maintained relations with former U.S. President Donald Trump and even negotiated an initial trade agreement in 2019.

In 2016, he hosted Barack Obama, who was U.S. president at the time, at Hiroshima. Obama became the first U.S. president to visit there since the atomic bombings by America in 1945.

In October 2018, Abe met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, becoming the first Japanese prime minister to visit Beijing since 2011. For several decades, Japan and China have had tense and fragile relations.

Abe’s visit aimed to boost China-Japan relations. More recently however, he had been an increasingly vocal critic of China, particularly on the issue of Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a renegade province that must be returned to the mainland. “A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency,” Abe said last year, suggesting that Japan and the U.S. should not stand by if China attacked Taiwan.

Abe had also been credited with being a key figure in the formation of “the Quad,” an informal security alignment between Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

The gun he was shot with appears to have been homemade.


EDIT: PICTURES

 

[posh-goofiness]

So... super crazy or Chinese spy? Make your bets.

 

[Sobek]

Damn, but guns are illegal there! How could this happen? /s

Thread by Japan Times with what we know:



Footage of the incident (far away, no gore):

 

[Zachowon]

Shooter was an apperent veteran of the Maratime SDF.
Could be a CCP agent or not, but if it is not an internal reason could make things worsw

 

[Husky_Khan]

Shooter was an apperent veteran of the Maratime SDF.
Could be a CCP agent or not, but if it is not an internal reason could make things worsw

Regardless the Chinese seem pretty happy about it. These are purportedly comments from the CCP Newspaper Peoples Daily.

 

[Arch Dornan]

Shooter was an apperent veteran of the Maratime SDF.
Could be a CCP agent or not, but if it is not an internal reason could make things worsw

I believe it's internal. It's not the first time a Japanese statesman has been assassinated by radicals.

 

[Agent23]

I believe it's internal. It's not the first time a Japanese statesman has been assassinated by radicals.

Yeah, to a degree where some people called it government by assassination.

 

[VictortheMonarch]

Shooter was an apperent veteran of the Maratime SDF.
Could be a CCP agent or not, but if it is not an internal reason could make things worsw

I think it's internal, if it was CCP he'd have a real gun. Plus the CCP is more a poison you type of assassination, they generally don't do straight up executions like this if they can avoid it, simply so it doesn't get dragged back to them. It's definitely internal, and I highly doubt that the assassin was working alone.

 

[VictortheMonarch]

the gun that shot Abe. Honestly this dude made a shitty ass gun, how did it not blow his face off? this thing should NOT have fired.

 

[Arch Dornan]

Yeah, to a degree where some people called it government by assassination.

I thought more of this one.

 

[VictortheMonarch]

I thought more of this one.

Difference here, it seems more like Abe's assassin wasn't working alone, as it is rather hard to create a new gun, and would honestly be easier to buy one than to make one, likely he was explicitly told to do this to cover tracks, you can't be traced by the gun if you didn't buy one. And the one at the bottom was a filthy communist, killing them is preventing the killing's they themselves will unleash.

 

[Agent23]

Difference here, it seems more like Abe's assassin wasn't working alone, as it is rather hard to create a new gun, and would honestly be easier to buy one than to make one, likely he was explicitly told to do this to cover tracks, you can't be traced by the gun if you didn't buy one. And the one at the bottom was a filthy communist, killing them is preventing the killing's they themselves will unleash.

Or it was easier for him to make one in a place with stringent gun laws where he has no criminal underground connections.

We don't know his bio, but if he was some form of technician it would possibly be less hard for him to build one than take time and effort to buy one on the black market.

You know how some Japanese are extremely obsessive-compulsive autistic nerds, maybe he was one.

In any case, Abe wasn't universally loved in Japan from what I have heard.
Abenomics for instance, is just money-printer go Brr/Krugmanomics.

 

[Sobek]

the gun that shot Abe. Honestly this dude made a shitty ass gun, how did it not blow his face off? this thing should NOT have fired.

I disagree, that looks perfectly serviceable and has the advantage of being untrackable. From footage it would seem the assasin also made his own black powder.

 

[Agent23]

I disagree, that looks perfectly serviceable and has the advantage of being untrackable. From footage it would seem the assasin also made his own black powder.

Yup, I am willing to bet he was some type of ordnance officer/weapons otaku/worked in related industries.

 

[Arch Dornan]

Difference here, it seems more like Abe's assassin wasn't working alone, as it is rather hard to create a new gun, and would honestly be easier to buy one than to make one, likely he was explicitly told to do this to cover tracks, you can't be traced by the gun if you didn't buy one. And the one at the bottom was a filthy communist, killing them is preventing the killing's they themselves will unleash.

Communist or not politicians being assassinated in broad daylight ain't a kosher move for political parties to publicly support lest they end up killed in the streets.