Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima was misidentified as the assassin who murdered former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
As reported by Kotaku, jokes online that Kojima murdered Abe resulted in a Greek news station showing images of the video game legend while covering the assassination. However, the text of the station's broadcast seemingly correctly identified Tetsuya Yamagami, who confessed his actions to police, as Abe's killer. Additionally, Damien Rieu, who is a member of France's far-right Conquête party, retweeted images of Kojima in relation to the event, though those tweets have since been deleted. Still, the misidentification of Kojima as Abe's assassin resulted in the game director's name trending on Twitter.
Abe, who was 67 years old at the time of his death, was a member of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, which is one of the nation's conservative parties. He first served as prime minister of Japan from 2006 until 2007 before stepping down to health reasons stemming from ulcerative colitis. Abe again took up that post in 2012 and held the position until 2020, making him the country's longest-serving prime minister.
During a speech in Nara prefecture on July 8, Abe was shot from behind by Yamagami with a homemade gun. Yamagami is a former member of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force who had recently quit his job at a manufacturing plant. Abe was rushed to hospital, but was pronounced dead at Nara Medical University Hospital. Yamagami has said he intended to kill Abe due to dissatisfaction with the politician. Yamagami was taken into custody by security officials on scene. Following his arrest, police searched his apartment and found more handmade guns and explosives.
Kojima is a Japanese video game designer known best for his work with Konami. While working for that company, Kojima created the Metal Gear franchise, which is one of the most popular and beloved in gaming. Following his exit from Konami in 2015, the creator's studio, Kojima Productions, began releasing video games. 2019's Death Stranding is the company's first title as an independent developer. Currently, Kojima Productions is working on a sequel to Death Stranding and a game for Xbox. At the time of writing, Kojima has not responded to the misidentification.
Sources: Kotaku; Washington Post; Forbes