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Man Arrested in Tokyo for Throwing Flammables at Ruling Party HQ

(Bloomberg) -- Police in Tokyo said they arrested a person on Saturday morning for throwing what appeared to be Molotov cocktails at the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. 

The person, identified as a 49-year-old male, approached the LDP headquarters in the early morning in a car and threw what looked like bottles filled with flammable material, according to a spokesperson from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. 

He also drove into the street in front of the Prime Minister’s official residence, rammed his vehicle into a protective fence, got out of the car and threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb at the police. The man’s vehicle also caught fire, and he was arrested on site, the spokesperson said. 

Local broadcaster NHK reported that fires have been put out and no injuries have been reported. 

“While we do not yet know the perpetrator’s motive, we’re deeply angered by this act” conducted during the election campaign, said LDP’s secretary-general, Hiroshi Moriyama, in a statement on the ruling party’s website. Japan’s lower house election is scheduled to take place on Oct. 27. The LDP will proceed with its campaign as scheduled, Moriyama said. 

 

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