Posted on 07/10/2022 11:22:52 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
TOKYO - The Unification Church in Japan on Monday (July 11) said the mother of the gunman who last week assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe was a member of the church.
The gunman, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, has told police following the assassination that he targeted Mr Abe in his belief that the former PM was linked to a "religious group" that his mother had joined, paying exorbitant dues that left his family bankrupt and broken.
In a news conference on Monday, Reverend Tomihiro Tanaka - who leads the Japan branch of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church - said Yamagami's mother joined the Church around the late 1990s.
She was still attending events about once every month and her last attendance was two months ago, he said.
The Church said neither Mr Abe nor Yamagami were members of the church. Mr Abe was also not an adviser to the church, he said.
The Church said Mr Abe had, among other things, offered video messages to an affiliated organisation. It also acknowledged links with Mr Abe's grandfather Nobusuke Kishi.
The Church said that its members offered the organisation different types of donations, but that it was ultimately up to the members to decide on what or how much they wanted to donate.
It denied ever coercing members into paying any dues, and declined to comment on Yamagami's mother's donations, citing the ongoing police investigation.
The Church also said tt did not want to get drawn into speculation over whether it was the "religious group" that Yamagami said he held a grudge against.
Mr Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, died after he was gunned down last Friday during a stump speech for a Liberal Democratic Party candidate in the western city of Nara.
A planned Upper House election went ahead on Sunday, with the ruling LDP and its coalition partner Komeito winning a convincing majority of a combined 76 seats, well above the 56 they required to retain their majority.
Gosh, it’s been years since I’ve heard or thought about the Moonies. They were definitely a thing in the ‘80s but seemed to have fizzled out.
Well, that’s a big plus, I guess.
Clearly targeted by global left-wing. Abe was a good friend to Trump and a critic of Zelenskyyyy who urged a negotiated peace.
It’s Straits Times.
Ok. His mother was a Moonie so he assassinated Abe.
Doesn’t make much sense.
ifinnegan wrote:
“
It’s Straits Times.
Ok. His mother was a Moonie so he assassinated Abe.
Doesn’t make much sense.
“
From the article:
“...The gunman, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, has told police following the assassination that he targeted Mr Abe in his belief that the former PM was linked to a “religious group” that his mother had joined, paying exorbitant dues that left his family bankrupt and broken. ...”
The perp thought that Abe was involved with the moonies.
I get that but don’t think it makes sense.
That makes zero sense. How was he responsible for his family going bankrupt? It would make more sense to murder the mother
It doesn’t make sense except for the fact Abe apparently gave a speech at one of their events. There is clearly more to the story. The Unification Church is loaded and pays politicians to attend church functions on a regular basis. Even Trump spoke at a Moonies conference a few years ago, and of course praised the organization from what I recall.
He's 41, and his mother left his family "bankrupt and broken"?
Reports I have read said the gunman was a Communist.
Ping.
It would make more sense not to hold a grudge for 20 years.
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