Anger in Japan grows after US Marine is arrested over the killing of woman on Okinawa
The arrest of a US Marine on suspicion of robbing and killing a local woman on Okinawa has renewed protests against the heavy American military presence on the southern island as Japan’s leaders condemned the crime.The killing could complicate Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s push to strengthen Japanese military on the island and to work more closely with the US military to deter China in the region.Okinawa prefectural police said they arrested Lance Cpl.Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who is stationed at Futenma Air Station, on suspicion of strangling Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in the island’s capital city of Naha early Saturday and stealing her wallet and backpack.
He has denied the allegations, according to Japanese media.Security camera footage showed a man entering the hotel with the woman and later leaving alone.Ballard was arrested when a patrolling officer saw him walking later Saturday in an entertainment district in Okinawa City, about 15 miles northeast of Naha.His shaved head and the tattoos on his arms matched those of the man in security footage, Kyodo News agency reported.“I’m outraged and flabbergasted to hear that a suspect came to the (entertainment area) after committing a murder,” Kenji Higa, who lives in Okinawa City, told the Okinawa Times.People in Okinawa have long opposed the heavy US military presence on the island, but some have come to see its strategic value due to what is widely viewed as a growing threat from China.Okinawa was under US occupation from World War II until 1972.
Today it hosts 70% of America’s military facilities and most of the 50,000 US troops based in Japan today.There has been anger over increasing crime linked to the US military on the island.The number of US military-related criminal cases rose to 101 last year from about 40 in 2020, according to prefectural police.After the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US service members, huge crowds protested the heavy US troop presence on Okinawa.
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