About 65,000 people on Sunday held a protest in Okinawa, Japan, to pressure U.S. military bases to leave the country after a former Marine was arrested in connection with the rape and killing of a local woman.
The protesters wore black to mourn the woman as they demanded Japanese officials to review the U.S.-Japanese security agreement, which allows for the continued presence of U.S. military bases in Japan, the Associated Press reports.
The woman’s body was found last month. A U.S. contractor, who is a former Marine, was arrested last month on suspicion of abandoning her body. However, he has not yet been charged with killing her, according to the AP.
Read More: The Tense Relationship Between Japan and the U.S. Military
In 1995, three American servicemen raped a girl, which also sparked outrage at the time. Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga referred to the tragedy when addressing the crowd at the protest on Sunday. “We had pledged never to repeat such an incident,” he said, the AP reports. “I couldn’t change the political system to prevent that. That is my utmost regret as a politician and as governor of Okinawa.”
[AP]
- Effective Altruism Promises to Do Good Better. These Women Say It Has a Toxic Culture of Sexual Harassment and Abuse
- Inside Bolsonaro's Surreal New Life as a Florida Man—and MAGA Darling
- From Jan. 6 to Tyre Nichols, American Life Is Still Defined by Caste
- As People Return to Offices, It’s Back to Miserable for America’s Working Moms
- The Real Reason Florida Wants to Ban AP African-American Studies, According to an Architect of the Course
- Column: Tyre Nichols' Killing Is The Result of a Diseased Culture
- Without Evusheld, Immunocompromised People Are on Their Own Against COVID-19
- Column: America Goes About Juvenile Crime Sentencing All Wrong
- Why Your Tax Refund May Be Lower This Year
