MIE (TR) – A man who threatened a delivery worker with a chainsaw told police he filmed and uploaded the incident because he was looking forward to watching the number of views of the video rise, Nippon News Network reported on Saturday (Jan. 7).
Mie Prefectural Police charged Kazuhiro Hasegawa, 27, with swinging around a chainsaw and threatening a worker at a Yamato Transport distribution center in Iga City in December.
Police quoted Hasegawa, who runs a YouTube channel under Hasegawa Kazuaki 8003TV, as saying that he “was looking forward to watching the view count rise.”
The smartphone Hasegawa used to record the footage was confiscated and is being analyzed, TV Asahi (Jan. 7) quoted police as saying.
Hasegawa uploaded the video to his channel but quickly took it down, according to news site Tantei Watch, and asked a user who uploaded a copy to also remove it.
Package contained Wi-Fi router?
Reports and explanations by the suspect suggest he became enraged after his father turned away a delivery driver who was attempting to deliver a Wi-Fi router he ordered.
Several netizens appear to have already circulated copies of the clip in question.
A recording of the video uploaded on YouTube appears to show an enraged Hasegawa screaming at a Yamato Transport worker as he demands his package be handed over.
“I’m going to broadcast this all over the world,” Hasegawa is heard shouting as the worker repeatedly apologizes. “Don’t be looking down on a YouTuber, now.”
“Bring me the guy responsible,” Hasegawa says as the worker appears to struggle with locating his package.
Hasegawa eventually steps outside and revs up the chainsaw as he continues to scream.
In another uploaded copy of a video Hasegawa deleted, the suspect explains that his delivery of a Wi-Fi router was turned away by his father.
Near the end of the video, Hasegawa announces plans to visit the Yamato Transport delivery office with his father before brandishing the chainsaw.
Reactions to the incident appear to be mixed, with some of his fans expressing dismay on his channel while others condemned his actions as stupid and senseless.
Pro-wrestler YouTuber criticizes media coverage
Hikaru Sato, 31, a pro wrestler and YouTuber, criticized the media for covering the chainsaw incident as being caused by a “YouTuber” in a reaction video uploaded on Jan. 5.
Sato insisted that Hasegawa was not what he considered to be an upstanding member of the wider YouTube community.
“I really want the news to stop putting together trash that uploads videos as a hobby and those that live off of [being YouTubers] as a business,” Sato says. “So like, just as an example, how about changing the wording a little and calling people who eat off YouTube as pro-YouTubers, and those that don’t as YouTubers, or only calling people who make a living off it as YouTubers, and calling everyone else self-proclaimed YouTubers.”
“I just don’t want YouTubers who make a living off YouTube and those kinds of idiots to be lumped together,” Sato says, appearing to refer to Hasegawa.
