Ridge Alkonis: The sailor who stoked Japanese resentment against the US
Source: BBC
Ridge Alkonis: The sailor who stoked Japanese resentment against the US
17 February 2024
By Nicholas Yong & Ian Tang
BBC News
When the story of Ridge Alkonis first broke on 29 May 2021, it did not initially attract much attention in Japan.
The US Navy officer had killed two Japanese citizens in a car accident during a trip to Mount Fuji - the victims were an 85-year-old woman and her son-in-law, aged 54.
After pleading guilty to negligent driving, Alkonis was sentenced to three years jail in October 2021. In his defence, US Navy doctors said he had been suffering from acute mountain sickness at the time of the accident. He was transferred to US custody last December.
Alkonis, stationed at the Yokosuka naval base south of Tokyo, was just the latest American serviceman to run into legal troubles. Since the US-Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) was inked in 1960 - enabling the deployment of US military forces in the country - there have been hundreds of criminal cases involving US military personnel.
Then on 13 January, a celebratory tweet by CNN anchor Jake Tapper - accompanied by a photo of a smiling Alkonis, 36, with his wife and three children - about "great and breaking news" jolted the Japanese public.
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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68137582
Supporters of Ridge Alkonis, led by his wife ran a successful pressure campaign in the US for his release (Getty Images)
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Community note on Jake Tapper Post: "Missing context - Navy Lt Ridge Alkonis was charged with killing two Japanese civilians in a car crash in May 2021 after he feel asleep at the wheel."
Link to tweet
