Japanese Police Helpless When Confronted With Nationalist Thugs

B. McPherson
The following video is in Japanese and as far as I can tell, it taken by one of the group of thugs. Look on the Sea Shepherd page, link below, for video taken from inside the Cove Guardians' car.




The Cove Guardians in Taiji Japan were attacked by a mob of right wing nationalists on Monday who pushed and shoved through a police presence and jostled the Sea Shepherd Society Cove Guardians. The Guardians were threatened by the thugs who made rude gestures, shouted using a loud hailer, and spat on the car that the environmentalists locked themselves into.

The incident was filmed from inside the car of the activists. At the time they were in the parking lot of the Cove.

“The nationalists returned to the cove and the police forced the Cove Guardians into their cars and out of Taiji.  Then things became truly bizarre.  The nationalists started chasing the police cars that were leading and pushing the Cove Guardian vehicles.  At times there were as many as 10 vehicles in a high-speed convoy traveling south out of Taiji.  Sirens were blaring and lights were flashing.  It was clear that the nationalists were controlling the situation.”Sea Shepherd Society

The Japanese police made no arrests of the thugs in this incident. They did admonish the Cove Guardians for swimming in the ocean earlier in the week.

It was odd behavior for the police who enthusiastically arrested Erwin Vermeulen late last year for allegedly pushing a person enforcing a no trespassing sign. He was charged with assault in spite of no evidence being presented. As he had both hands full at the time of the incident, he could not have assaulted anyone. Nevertheless, Vermeulen spent 64 days in jail in trying circumstances before having the charges thrown out.

The Cove Guardians acknowledge that they are far from favourites in the village of Taiiji for their filming and documenting the slaughter of dolphins herded into the now infamous Cove. They also maintain that any small infraction of the law would land them in jail, crying foul that these thugs were let go with no consequences.

The Academy Award winning documentary The Cove burst on the public’s conscientiousness in 2009 and it was thought that shining a light on this barbarous practice would end it. Not so. Some dolphins are killed for meat and others are sold to marine parks and swim with the dolphins enterprises. At about $150 000 per captive dolphin, the theme parks are major supporters of this carnage.

While dolphin meat has been removed from school lunches in Japan recently due to its high toxin levels, those in small villages like Taiiji who continue to eat dolphins have high levels of methylmercury in their bodies. Methylmercury is a central nervous system poison and is particularly dangerous for the unborn and young children. Adults who are poisoned by mercury have Minimata disease. It resembles cerebral palsy.
Location: Japan, Wakayama Prefecture, Higashimuro District, Taiji, ３７６７

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