TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 67-year-old man for making online threats to Liberal Democratic Party’s Isshu Sugawara earlier this year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sept. 3).
Earlier this year, Shigemi Noguchi, a resident of Saga City, Saga Prefecture, wrote on Twitter, “If I see [Sugawara] in the street, I’ll bash the crown of his head with a baseball bat. We don’t need members of the Diet who ignore the Diet.” He also demanded that Noguchi resign from his post.
“I did it due to dissatisfaction with the administration,” the suspect was quoted by the Nerima Police Station in admitting to the allegations.
Sugawara lodged a compalaint with police after receiving the threat.
A member of the House of Representatives, Sugawara is affiliated with nationalist body Nippon Kaigi. The politician supports a revision to the Constitution that will allow for collective self-defense.
“These kinds of anonymous death threats on the internet are wrong and impermissible,” said Sugawara. He added that he carried a helmet around in his vehicle as a precautionary measure after receiving the threat.
