Japanese police reiterated the importance of security measures at public events attended by politicians, after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on Saturday in the United States, the Japanese Government announced today.
The shots that hit and injured the American Republican presidential candidate in the ear during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, on Saturday, reminded the Japanese of the still vivid memory of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in similar circumstances, in July 2022 .
The attack on Trump prompted the Japan Police Agency to "ask police forces across the country to be extremely vigilant near places where campaign rallies are held," government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.
Japan has stepped up security measures for public figures since Abe's assassination, which caught police by surprise in a country where armed violence is extremely rare.
The murder led to the dismissal of Japanese police chief Itaru Nakamura, who admitted "failures in the security plans and the risk assessments on which they were based".
Less than a year later, an explosive device was launched in the direction of the current Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, at an election event and when Japan was hosting two ministerial meetings of the G7 (Group of the seven most industrialized countries in the world).
Kishida escaped unharmed, but the attack was a reminder of "how dangerous places where speeches by officials are held can be", Hayashi highlighted.
On Sunday, the Japanese prime minister condemned the attack on Trump as an act of intolerable violence that “defies democracy”.
