The Pentagon has reportedly sacked a senior US Marine Corps official in Okinawa, Japan, following the leak of on-base surveillance video to a Japanese neo-nationalist group.
The leaked film, which showed the arrest of Okinawan peace campaigner Hiroji Yamashiro last month, was uploaded to YouTube on March 9.
Yamashiro, chairman of the Okinawa Peace Movement Center, was arrested by base security guards at Camp Schwab for crossing its boundary line during a protest on February 22. Following his arrest, he was handed over to Japanese police, who released him the next day while they carry out further investigations.
Last month it was revealed that Eldridge had also appeared on Japanese television twice, including one appearance in January where he branded Okinawa protests as “hate speech.” Allegedly, Eldridge also referred to Okinawan demonstrations as “mob rule” and claimed there had been “many physical attacks on Americans” by protesters, Japanese media reports.
Revelations of cooperation between the US military and Japanese neo-nationalists come at a critical time for Tokyo-Washington relations.
Next month, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter is expected to make his first visit to Japan to discuss, among other matters, the Okinawa base relocation plan. The Japanese government asserts it is committed to the project despite vast public opposition in Okinawa.
