News QAnon's Japan chapter raided over obstructing COVID vaccinations

[thomas]

Earlier this week, Japanese police raided QAnon's Japan chapter in Shizuoka Prefecture after its members were arrested for forcing their way into a local mass coronavirus vaccination site earlier this year. Eight members of the YamatoQ group, including one of its leaders, were arrested on suspicion of trespassing after they intruded into the vaccination site in Yaizu in the central Japanese prefecture in March.

According to police, those arrested shouted "Vaccination is an act of murder" at the site. The prefectural police searched the group's head office in Fukuroi. Another leader and some other members of the group were indicted earlier this year on charges of barging into a venue offering coronavirus vaccinations for children in Tokyo in April. The group has been waging a campaign against COVID-19 inoculations in various parts of Japan, holding rallies and saying that the novel coronavirus does not exist. In March, they disrupted vaccinations at sites including Tokyo Dome. They are also protesting what they say is a lack of transparency about the composition of coronavirus vaccines and what they allege are their dangers. YamatoQ says on its website that it is the Japanese wing of QAnon, a movement spreading internet conspiracy theories in support of former U.S. President Donald Trump. The movement is said to have gained followers in many countries.

QAnon's Japan arm searched over obstructing COVID vaccinations

Police search the head office of a group claiming to be the Japanese arm of U.S. conspiracy cult QAnon in Shizuoka Prefecture after its members were arrested last week for forcing their way into a local mass coronavirus vaccination site earlier this year

english.kyodonews.net

YamatoQ:

神真都Q 公式 Web site

私たちは子ども達を守るため、健全な日本を取り戻すため活動しています

sites.google.com

The BBC had a 25-minute podcast on YamatoQ last August:

The strange story of QAnon in Japan

How did a bizarre conspiracy theory about Donald Trump being the saviour of the world lead to people protesting in the streets in Japan, accusing police of being reptiles?

BBC World Service - Trending, The strange story of QAnon in Japan

How did a bizarre US-based conspiracy theory lead to street protests around Japan?

www.bbc.co.uk