The incident, which occurred just over a week before a general election in which new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hopes to strengthen his mandate, did not result in any injuries.
A spokesperson for the Tokyo Police Department stated that a 49-year-old man from Saitama, which is located north of the Japanese capital, had been “arrested on the spot on suspicion of obstructing public duties.” At around dawn on Saturday, “he moved toward the base camp of the Liberal Leftist faction in a vehicle, got out and tossed what had all the earmarks of being Molotov mixed drinks,” the representative said.
She continued, “He also drove into the road in front of the prime minister’s office, crashing into a fence to prevent vehicles from entering, and then after getting out of the car, he threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb at police officers.”
The five or six Molotov cocktails-like objects, according to NHK, struck a riot police vehicle, but the fire was quickly put out and no one was hurt.
According to the Asahi Shimbun Daily and other media, the man’s small white car contained several plastic tanks typically used to transport liquids.
The top state leader’s office is situated around 15 15-minute stroll from the LDP base camp in focal Tokyo.
As firefighters and police officers gathered at the scene, images from the aftermath showed a dark blue riot police van whose front section was partially burned away.
According to reports in the local media, LDP head Ishiba said, “Democracy must never succumb to violence” while campaigning in the southern Kagoshima region.
“This occurred during the political race, yet we will do all that to guarantee that decisions and a vote based system are not obliterated by viciousness,” the head of the state said.
