Quick Reaction Saves Prime Minister

There has been widespread praise for the bodyguard who immediately reacted to kick away a bomb before putting himself in between the object and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a campaign event The PM was evacuated safely. The incident echoed the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving modern leader, who was shot with a homemade gun last July while campaigning for a parliamentary election.

The assailant is Ryuji Kimura, an unemployed 24-year-old man who allegedly wanted to be a politician and believed that he was unfairly blocked from running for parliament by an age requirement, according to media reports and social media posts that appeared to be his.