One week has passed since an explosive device was thrown near Prime Minister Kishida, who was visiting to support the election in Wakayama City, and the police authorities will now scrutinize the security situation at the time when the incident occurred. When Prime Minister Kishida was about to go to his lectern, security personnel moved to the side, and we learned that there was a time when there were no police officers to shield him with the audience, and I will confirm this point as well.
It has been one week since the incident in Wakayama City on the 15th of this month, when a cylindrical explosive device was thrown near Prime Minister Kishida just before his election speech.
The National Police Agency is fundamentally reviewing the operation of guarding dignitaries based on the lessons learned from the shooting incident of former Prime Minister Abe in July last year, and while some say that lessons were learned this time such as the police officer who was guarding nearby quickly repelled explosives to evacuate the Prime Minister, as a result, suspicious people invaded the speech venue, It has also been pointed out that allowing explosives to be thrown must be taken seriously.
Less than a year after the incident of former Prime Minister Abe, the police authorities have decided to scrutinize the security situation at that time, as an incident targeting the incumbent prime minister occurred again.
According to a police official, at that time, Prime Minister Kishida was about to go to the podium exchanging words with the candidates, but at that time, the security personnel who had been around him moved aside, and there was a time when there was no police officer to shield the Prime Minister and the audience.
During this time, the police officers continued to stand guard with their eyes facing the audience, but they did not notice the suspect who was approaching the Prime Minister about 22 meters before the explosives were thrown, including the police officers who were on guard in the audience.
In addition, the police authorities have decided to confirm the response to this failure to prevent the throwing of explosives, such as the failure to conduct baggage inspections with metal detectors, highlighting once again the difficulty of protecting dignitaries at election speech venues where an unspecified number of people come and go.