Shocking indeed!
Concerning the shooter - he was acting alone. He said he had no disagreement with Abe's political policies but targeted Abe for his associations with a religious organisation that had been connected with his (the shooter's) mother going into debt and the breakup of his family. He had been in the Self Defense Force (navy) for a few years, and his gun was homemade. He acted very deliberately *as the available footage shows) and said he had meant to kill Abe.
As for Abe's political stance - he was a hard line conservative. Beyond (or perhaps part and parcel of that) he had connections with a number of dubious groups, including religious ones. He certainly had his detractors as well as his supporters. In particular, he aroused popular anger in his attempts to change the constitution by altering the clause regarding self-defense and which precluded pre-emptive attacks. While there are strategic reasons for wishing to do so, it came across as if he was just trying to fulfil his grandfather's (also a former PM) ambitions, using his party's strong position to go against public opinion.
Worryingly, he (and his cabinet) seemed to have little regard for freedom of the press, pressuring several TV stations to fire presenters who had been critical of the government stance on the constitutional reforms. Abe was also involved in a couple of major scandals in his last year in office (a dodgy property deal connected to building a Shinto elementary school, and using public funds for a cherry blossom viewing party for his supporters) which did much to sour public opinion.
Questions are currently being asked about his protection detail. Although they reacted quickly (one of them can be seen on some footage dashing to shield Abe after the first shot) their placement seems to have been poor, and critically, nobody was looking towards the rear while Abe was speaking.
TV commentary here has made much of the fact that this kind of violence has no place in a democracy (of course!!!), but more than a few people must be looking back at the spate of political assassinations in the thirties.
Graculus
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