Man arrested after throwing petrol bombs at Japan ruling party HQ in Tokyo

free speech must not be silenced by violence

??? What the ruling party does is not just a free of speech. If the party is just speeching freely and the country is doing well no one would complain

Hopefully a wake up call for the LDP, but I doubt it. They'll continue to line their pockets until they're all booted from office.

Understandable with the amount of blatant corruption within the LDP.

People will get even angrier yet.

According to Asahi News Network: "The father of the man who was arrested red-handed said to ANN, ''I think he was angry about various things.'' I answered."

"Atsunobu Usuda (49) from Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, drove his car into the fence of the Prime Minister's Office in Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo just before 6 a.m. on the 19th, got out of his car and fired what looked like a smoke bomb at police officers."

"He is suspected of obstructing official business by throwing a ball at the victim."

Yes, very loud and dangerous, this and similar incidents and terror attempts. But now imagine all such kind of crazy activists combined would abide to the rules and gain a majority by voting in democratic elections? That would be the real and much bigger catastrophe.

It does not mention if the 'several plastic tanks' were empty or full, or what the liquid was. 'Suspected petrol bombs'? You are not allowed to put gasoline into plastic tanks, but kerosene/paraffin is ok. If you use suitable metal jerry cans at a gasoline stand, then under recent law you will need to show ID. The guy must have left some kind of trail, if he was using petrol/gasoline.

Japan will hold a general election on October 27 

Early voting started today.

socrateos

Here is the website for the anti-nuclear activist group to which this person apparently belonged:

http://buttoshi.web.fc2.com/

Thanks! Their promotion video is hilarious.

**disenchanted

We could do with an edit function here. :)

*seem

In what century are they going to be voted out of office?

It’s a pity discharged Japanese don’t ever seek inclined to vote them out.

Hopefully a wake up call for the LDP, but I doubt it. They'll continue to line their pockets until they're all booted from office.

"as elections which are the very foundation of democracy are under way,"

Can't go distracting attention from the bi-annual megaphone-truck-shouting competition...

"Violent crime is rare in Japan, which has strict gun control laws."

Recently, I have seen ads in Japanese (and thus for a Japanese audience) on YouTube selling a small, gun-like gadget which fires what looks like real bullets. There is a video showing the damage it does to cans and pet bottles, and it is explicitly designed to be sold to people who worry about personal security (not shooting squirrels).

I wonder if the government know about this? Recently, I've seen this ad several times. The item is "made in USA."

Here is the website for the anti-nuclear activist group to which this person apparently belonged:

http://buttoshi.web.fc2.com/

The homepage declares:

March 11 made us realize something. We will no longer blindly follow the government, the media, or capitalists, nor will we allow ourselves to be divided. We have resolved to unite with all those who are oppressed and fight alongside them.

We have the power to change reality, and before us lies a reality that must be changed.

"March 11" refers to the Fukushima Nuclear Plant meltdown on March 11, 2011.

burns inflicted by petrol bombs are serious, molotov cocktails are explosive, petrol plus chemical additions, let the police investigate if any agitators educated him how to procure chemicals and 'safely' mix them. sentiments about resorting to such destructive measures, I cannot understand that.

I agree Ego Sum.

Right sentiment, wrong actions.

The rage, while misdirected, is understandable.

Lucky that they got onto this terrorist and extinguished his Molotov cocktails quickly. What an absolute pillock.

Public broadcaster NHK said the five or six Molotov cocktail-like objects hit a riot police vehicle, but the fire was soon extinguished and no one was injured. Police were unable to immediately confirm the reports to AFP.

Japan used to have vigorous groups agitating for labor reform and tossing Molotov cocktails at the establishment.

The LDPs worst nightmare is that the people have woken up and that time is coming around again.