Yesterday, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was tragically assassinated while delivering a campaign speech in Nara, Japan. Naturally, the vast majority of people came together in mourning for Abe.
However, as always, idiots in the dark corners of the internet made distasteful and racist jokes about the former PM’s assassination. These included comparing the suspected shooter, 41-year-old Nara man Tetsuya Yamagami, to Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima.
The implication behind the “jokes” is that all Japanese people look the same. While the originators may or may not believe comparing the two individuals is a racist thing to do – it is. And it’s proven, once again, that certain parts of the internet are cesspits.
As a result, some news outlets and political figures misidentified Kojima as Abe’s assassin. They even shared pictures of the video game auteur as if he was actually the shooter.
What Happened & How Was Kojima Implicated?
The ridiculous and offensive comparison started on 4chan before making its way onto Twitter.
Unfortunately, Damien Rieu, a French far-right political figure, came across the “joke” Hideo Kojima tweets and, believing them to be real (presumably), retweeted them. The translated caption read “The extreme left kills”. He did later delete the fake claims; although, it was too late.
The assassination of Shinzo Abe dominated the international news media yesterday. Outlets and political figures across the world were scrambling for any scraps of information they could find. Amplified by Rieu, the bogus tweets spread and misled at least one news outlet.
ANT1 TV news station in Greece talked about and aired photographs of Kojima as if he was actually suspect Tetsuya Yamagami.
Kotaku reported that the news station said the following when images of Kojima were shown on-screen:
Tetsuya has confessed to his actions to the police, admitting that he wanted Abe dead because he was disappointed and upset with him. The police have learned that he [the culprit] had served in the Navy Special Forces and taught a unit in Medical School on Physiotherapy for dementia patients. He was passionate about Che Guevara.
The Che Guevara comments come from a picture of Kojima stood next to an image of the Cuban revolutionary. What’s more, a picture of Kojima wearing a Soviet ushanka also made the rounds and fed into the “extreme left” narrative.
More Sinister Than Simple Mistaken Identity
As of writing, Hideo Kojima has yet to comment on the situation. In fact, no one would blame him for pursuing legal action against individuals who spread the false information.
Of course, the real problem here is that all this stems from racist a**holes who thought it would be funny. On top of that, it’s yet further proof that platforming far-right fascist political figures has ZERO positive consequences.
Let’s hope ANT1 TV and others who spread the bogus claims have learned from this mistake. May we recommend fact-checking in future?
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