The world’s leaders are reacting in shock and sadness after the brutal murder of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe, a well-known statesman, was giving a speech at a political event in Nara, a city southwest of Osaka in central Japan.
Video from the scene shows authorities immediately responding and taking the killer into custody after shooting Abe from behind.
The cowardly attack led to the 67-year-old former leader of Japan being rapidly airlifted to hospital, but he was ultimately unable to be saved.
A ‘Barbaric’ Murder
The suspect who has been arrested is a Japanese Navy veteran called Tetsuya Yamagami, who reportedly told police he hated Abe’s politics and wanted him dead.
The current leader of Japan Fumio Kishida said this assassination was “barbaric” and there’s no doubt shooting an old man from behind is about as cowardly as you can get.
Video from the speech shows a shotgun-type blast as the crowd screams.
Japan has the strictest gun control laws in the world. Yamagami appears to have built a homemade, shotgun-style double-barrel gun, which he used to kill Abe.
The moment that Japanese Former PM Shinzo Abe was shot. Looks to be a DIY shotgun. pic.twitter.com/sC0yzzfIob
— Global: MilitaryInfo (@Global_Mil_Info) July 8, 2022
Abe’s Legacy
In his two terms as leader of Japan from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2020, Abe established himself as a Japan First nationalist.
He sought to strengthen the economy and wanted to build up Japan’s military, which is prohibited, according to the current constitution.
Abe was also strongly against the idea of normalizing relations with China and served as one of America’s strongest allies. He was close with President Trump and well-liked by other world leaders as a friendly and smart man.
He managed to transform and bolster Japan’s economy quite significantly and reestablish respect for the country on the world stage, even leading to numerous direct threats from China against the island nation.
Shinzo Abe has been one of the fiercest anti-communists in all of Asia and was never afraid to stand up to the CCP. He dedicated his life to defending his country
— Jack Posobiec XLV (@JackPosobiec) July 8, 2022
Rest in Peace
The motive of Yamagami will continue to be investigated as this brutal killing is further looked into by authorities. There are very rarely shootings in Japan except for when related to the Yakuza crime organization.
Last year, Japan had only ten shootings and eight of them were directly tied to operations of Yakuza. Only one of those shootings was fatal; five had no injuries and four resulted in harm, but not death.
Police believe Yamagami may have been mentally unstable and managed to build his weapon himself, which he used at the Nara event to shoot Abe.
However, an investigation is still ongoing as to why an individual randomly killed a former leader of Japan when he was talking at a political event.
Pray for the family and friends of Shinzo Abe, a loyal leader who put his own people first and never gave in to the demands and lies of globalism.
