NAGO, JAPAN - DECEMBER 03: Okinawa prefectural police's riot police remove protesters who tried to block the entry of dump trucks carrying earth and sand for a U.S. military base project near a pier on December 3, 2018 in Nago, Okinawa, Japan. With talks failing to resolve the controversial relocation of the U.S. military's Futenma base within Okinawa Prefecture, the central government announced it will begin delayed land reclamation work on December 14. Tokyo is pushing the project to build a new partially offshore base off the Henoko district of Nago in the prefecture that will take over the functions of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, also in the prefecture. The prefectural government is calling for the early closure of Futenma, which sits in a heavily populated area, but is adamantly opposed to the relocation inside the prefecture. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun/The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)
Tokyo, Jan 28: A group of about 300 young people rioted in Japan’s southwestern city of Okinawa, pelting a police station with raw eggs, firecrackers and stones following reports that an officer hit a teenager in the face with a baton, media reported on Friday.
According to the local newspaper Okinawa Times, the city police on Thursday received complaints about motorcyclists driving at an excessive speed and making noise. Eyewitnesses reportedly said that the police had detained a 17-year-old young man riding a motorcycle from a convenience store to his home. However, the man appeared to have nothing to do with the group. The man later told his friends that he had been hit in the face with a baton by a policeman and had temporarily lost his eyesight, the outlet reported.
News about the incident quickly spread on social media, prompting hundreds of young people to gather on Thursday night outside a police station and calling for the policeman to be held accountable. The group reportedly threw raw eggs, stones, and firecrackers at the station, breaking the entrance windows. Some of them also hit parked cars with sticks.
Footage shared by local media shows police officers lining up outside the station with shields and trying to protect glass doors and windows from projectiles. According to the newspaper, the crowd dispersed at around 4:30 am local time on Friday (19:30 GMT on Thursday). No injuries have been reported. The Okinawan police have not officially commented on the incident.
