Hello from Tokyo. Almost two years ago, in July 2022, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed while speaking at an election rally in the western prefecture of Nara. He was shot from behind, and when he turned around to see what was happening, he was repeatedly shot again, which proved fatal.
What happened to former U.S. President Donald Trump this week instantly reminded me of the Abe tragedy. The difference is that Trump miraculously survived after he was shot in the ear, ducking as soon as he noticed the blood and escaping other shots.
The Secret Service is under investigation over whether its protection of the former president was adequate. After Abe's tragic death, the National Police Agency admitted to multiple failures in planning, and the head of the National Police Agency resigned to take responsibility.
In the same year of Abe's death, Imran Khan, a former Pakistani prime minister who remains popular, was also shot and wounded while leading a march on Islamabad to demand early elections. The country has a long history of political violence. Its first female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated after an election rally in 2007.
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