A 49-year-old man was arrested by Tokyo police on Saturday for throwing what seemed to be Molotov cocktails at the headquarters of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The man also crashed his van into the security fence outside the prime minister’s office, located near the LDP headquarters in Nagatacho, and threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb at police officers, according to a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department.
The man, identified as Atsunobu Usuda, was taken into custody at the scene for obstruction of official duties. The incident occurred during the campaigning for a general election called by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Oct. 27.
Japanese media reported that there were no injuries in the incident, which occurred before 6 a.m. local time (2100 GMT Friday). Television footage showed approximately a dozen plastic containers in the man’s vehicle.
According to local media, Ishiba stated that democracy should never succumb to violence. He was in Kagoshima in southern Japan at the time of the incident.
LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama mentioned that the party will proceed with campaigning as planned, as reported by local media.