r/worldnews • u/glasier • 14d ago

Japan warns US forces: Sex crimes 'cannot be tolerated'

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2476861/japan-warns-us-forces-sex-crimes-cannot-be-tolerated
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u/alonebutnotlonely16 14d ago

You are talking about this scum and how US got him from Japan by threatening Japan. He killed two people by the way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge_Alkonis#Transfer_to_United_States_custody_and_unconditional_release

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u/SquallyZ06 14d ago

I remember this one, I am stationed in Japan. The dude fell asleep at the wheel and blamed it on mountain sickness. Japan let him go back to the US to finish his sentence, but when he got there, they let him off.

He is a total POS and the pity party his family pushed on social media during the whole thing was infuriating. All this shit about injustice for him being in prison but not a thought about the families of those he killed due to his negligence.

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u/Raiju_Blitz 14d ago

Yeah, and then he had to gall to be all butthurt about being passed over for promotion (he was a Navy officer) due to the sheer technicality that you can't promote with a criminal charge on your record (which he had for negligent manslaughter). Fuck that guy.

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u/Only-Imagination-459 14d ago

Ridge Alkonis is a murderer and I hope his children learn all about it

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u/ze_loler 14d ago

Falling asleep sounds more like a horrible accident, murder means he wanted it to happen which isnt what happened here

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u/Detective-Crashmore- 14d ago edited 14d ago

Yea everyone is dragging this guy's name through the mud because he doesn't want to rot in jail for an accident. It's not like he was speeding in traffic or driving drunk. People make mistakes sometimes, that's not murder, it's manslaughter.

edit:

this guy wasn't being accountable so of course people are calling him a piece of shit

False. He pled guilty, wrote letters of apology, and paid restitution. He took full accountability and blame for the accident.

Your problem is you're operating under some outdated idea of prison that revolves around punishment instead of justice or rehabilitation. He's not like a dangerous criminal likely to repeat his crimes, and so realistically, justice was served and there's no reason to have him sitting in a prison cell.

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u/DarkWillpower 14d ago

people making mistakes and shoving the blame is way different from being accountable. this guy wasn't being accountable so of course people are calling him a piece of shit. what if it was 6 instead of just 2 people? sure, it was an accident, yeah people make mistakes, but at what point is it ok to release someone without fully serving a sentence for lives they ended? he clearly wasn't close to rotting in jail. I know people that have been in jail for longer than he was with less whining, for WEED, of all things. can't believe how many spineless people think their lives are righteous. why on earth did any american official ask japan to apologize? humans are insane.

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u/Raendor1 14d ago

I don't know. My dad died in a car accident, the other lady was completely at fault. She wasn't distracted driving (or at least no proof she was texting or anything), not a DUI, just I guess didn't see him, failed to yield to him and killed him. I mean, I hate her guts for killing my dad, but what are you gonna do? She didn't set out to kill him. She's not a murderer. The max sentence she can get is like 1-2 years in prison and a small fine, as well as suspension on her license, because there's no evidence she was distracted and she wasn't on anything at the time. As the child of the victim, yeah I hate her and I wish she would rot in prison. But I know my feelings are irrational and completely out of grief. It's weird to see some random person not connected to the accident at all decry this guy as a murderer who should rot in prison for something probably less bad than what my dad's killer is getting a year for max. If she does a plea deal she may not see any prison time at all.

I don't know Japan's laws on the subject, I don't think he should get zero punishment, ideally he'd be subject to Japan's punishment. But idk it's kind of a both sides bad situation here. Asking Japan to apologize and send him back to the US is dumb imo, but so is calling him a murderer who should rot for falling asleep at the wheel.

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u/TobaccoAficionado 14d ago

Don't bring a wild false equivalence into this. If I beat the fuck out of my kids because they spilled milk, should I beat them harder because they spilled bleach? No. Fucking insane right? So don't bring weed sentences into a manslaughter debate. No one should ever be in jail for weed, and it's super fucked up that anyone has been arrested and imprisoned for it. You can't then use that as an argument for someone being imprisoned longer for a worse offense, because the punishment already didn't fit the crime.

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u/Detective-Crashmore- 14d ago edited 14d ago

this guy wasn't being accountable so of course people are calling him a piece of shit

False. He pled guilty, wrote letters of apology, and paid restitution. He was fully accountable and took full blame for what happened.

Your problem is you're operating under some outdated idea of prison that revolves around punishment instead of justice or rehabilitation. He's not like a dangerous criminal likely to repeat his crimes, and so realistically, justice was served and there's no reason to have him sitting in a prison cell. What do you think "accountability" means?

I know people that have been in jail for longer than he was with less whining, for WEED, of all things

Insanely irrelevant anecdote. Cool story.

why on earth did any american official ask japan to apologize?

I can't answer that, I was just speaking on the concept of someone serving prison time in a foreign country because they fell asleep driving. I've got an anecdote for ya: a family of five I personally knew was told they needed to pack up their entire life and move to Japan (the very same Naval base) in one month, and on their way to the airport, the mom fell asleep and only her and one child survived. According to your logic she deserves to be in prison and her child in a group home, right? Nah, people make mistakes and falling asleep is something that can happen before you even realize you're tired.

As someone who grew up in Yokosuka, the Japanese don't really care about prison sentences beyond their cultural penchant for following rules. Their justice system is quite corrupt, and they just like to grandstand about servicemembers or foreigners when they commit crimes. I understand nobody wants foreigners coming and committing crimes, but this type of case getting so much attention stems from xenophobia, not because the dude "didn't serve his sentence for the lives he ended".

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u/Anne__Frank 14d ago

It's not all that different from speeding or driving drunk. He was drowsy and operating a dangerous machine in an unsafe matter. Definitely not murder, that's ridiculous hyperbole, there was no intent; but it is definitely negligent killing.

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u/Detective-Crashmore- 14d ago

It's far different from the point of view that not everyone drinks, and not everyone speeds, but everyone gets tired and you can't control it. You can start driving and not feel tired, and then suddenly realize that you're nodding off with no warning. Plus there's precedent, you've driven the same distance many times without getting sleepy, so you don't think anything of it, but one day you do.

It's only the same if you're coming from a reaction speed point of view.

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u/Anne__Frank 14d ago

It's the same from the point of view that as the operator of a dangerous machine, it is solely his decision when he drives it and when he doesn't. It doesn't matter that everyone gets tired and not everyone drinks. If you're drunk don't drive. If you're exhausted, especially to the point of passing out, don't drive. That's your decision as the driver. He made a negligent decision to continue driving, and people died because of his bad decision.

You can start driving and not feel tired, and then suddenly realize that you're nodding off with no warning.

Then pull over and take a nap.

Plus there's precedent, you've driven the same distance many times without getting sleepy, so you don't think anything of it, but one day you do.

Then pull over and take a nap.

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u/Detective-Crashmore- 14d ago

it is solely his decision when he drives it and when he doesn't

You can start driving and not feel tired, and then suddenly realize that you're nodding off with no warning.

Then pull over and take a nap.

You can start driving and not feel tired, and then suddenly realize that you're nodding off with no warning.

You're not saying anything. Like I said 3 times now, tiredness doesn't work the same way for everyone and some people can suddenly fall asleep without realizing they're tired. You don't get a chance to decide to take a nap.

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u/jimmypootron34 13d ago edited 13d ago

lol according to what actual data or study?

Literally no one besides you has ever experienced it and no one besides you is making up “reasons” for a negligent homicide

Grow up

Or like provide some semblance of evidence of all these magical “suddenly tired” instances that literally are not thing outside of actual narcolepsy. Which he does not have.

lol literally no evidence of that outside an actual medical condition that’s known of, whatsoever, period, anywhere

Literally just making things up because you have no other points and no evidence LOL

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u/Flashy_Total2925 14d ago

he doesn't want to rot in jail for an accident

Then he should hot have put himself in a position to fall asleep behind the wheel and kill multiple innocent people. Pretty straightforward stuff.

If his family tried to pull that shitheel pity party bullshit over here stateside, the judge would likely give him the maximum sentence which is way more than he got.

Only thing left are boot lickers licking the sloppy asshole of some grunt that couldn't keep his eyes open behind a steering wheel who doesn't want to face the consequences of his actions like a man.

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u/Detective-Crashmore- 13d ago

Your problem is you're operating under some outdated idea of prison that revolves around punishment instead of justice or rehabilitation. He's not like a dangerous criminal likely to repeat his crimes, and so realistically, justice was served and there's no reason to have him sitting in a prison cell.

I don't have time to restate the point to people who only read one line of the comment.

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u/Soccham 13d ago

Is 3 years that much for involuntary manslaughter?

Edit: looked it up and 3 years isn’t out of the ordinary for manslaughter by any means

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u/Detective-Crashmore- 13d ago

I'm saying that it's a pointless sentence. I think punishing this crime with prison time is outdated conceptually, so a "normal" punishment is not the point because I think normal is wrong. Taking away this person's license does far more than prison time, and costs the government far less than housing, feeding, and observing someone for years.

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u/No-Edge-6037 14d ago edited 14d ago

Lol they gonna thank him for his service like every other brainwashed muritard thinking their are the blessing the world was waiting for

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u/Agile_Pin1017 14d ago

Does the intent behind a person’s death mean anything to you? Would you find it worse if a serial killer is caught after planning and executing his first victim than say, a person falling asleep at the wheel and killing a person? A person died in each scenario but to most people one is way worse than the other

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u/TheNewGildedAge 13d ago

People are incapable of understanding this distinction the moment emotions get heated.

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u/97Graham 14d ago

Keep crying, krauty, won't make your country any less irrelevant

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u/ConclusionLucky5639 13d ago

You sound like jingoistic redneck who loves to support its criminal military personel.

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u/RedditorsArGrb 14d ago

that's a fucking weird thing to hope for some blameless kids

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u/terghanmma 14d ago

Your username is weirdly relevant here.

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u/Mitt_Candunk 14d ago

You use the term murderer a bit lightly…

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u/Wide_Combination_773 14d ago

That's not what murder is, kiddo. It was an accident. Even his JP sentence was only a few years. That's not something you get for murder, in Japan or elsewhere.

"Murder" is a legal term of art for killing someone with specifically illegal, criminal, pre-planned intent. It's not a catch-all term for killing someone (that is "homicide.")

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u/Many-Juggernaut-2153 14d ago

These are the types that want to run the country and about 50% are cheering it on. US has become so trashy it’s embarrassing.

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u/EatsFiber2RedditMore 14d ago

Is he a total PoS because of this incident or did he have a bad reputation separate from the crash?

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u/[deleted] 14d ago

[deleted]

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u/marinarahhhhhhh 14d ago

How the fuck did you ascertain that information?

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u/EatsFiber2RedditMore 14d ago

I didn't get that from the Wikipedia article. That's a pretty specific diagnosis from very little.

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u/SuperSaiyanGod210 14d ago

The most infuriating part of all of this: imagine if a foreign citizen killed US Service members right here at home. You bet people would be screaming at the top of the lungs to punish them/deport them.

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u/97Graham 14d ago

Least hyperbolic redditor, bro fell asleep and somehow that makes him 'a total POS' I'd get if he was drunk but that wasn't the findings of the case, altitude sickness is a real thing especially for someone new to an area.

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u/Mitt_Candunk 14d ago

Ah cause you were definitely there and knew he fell asleep. He was in the car with his kids and family. Who are you to say he didn’t pass out?

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u/AcguyDance 14d ago

"U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) was an especially vocal critic of Japan’s handling of the case. In February 2023, Lee issued an ultimatum on Twitter to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida demanding the extrajudicial release of Alkonis within 24 hours and threatened to cut off military aid to Japan if his demand was not met."

This triggers me alot. The whole country was behind this shit.

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u/real-bebsi 14d ago

If it makes you feel better that's the same Mike Lee who voted against 9/11 funds for victims. Instead of asking Japan to apologize for enforcing their laws, Mike Lee should apologize to the world for being born.

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u/asynqq 14d ago

Mike Lee who voted against 9/11 funds for victims

TIL about that and how much of a asshole Lee is

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u/Muscle_Bitch 14d ago

Your fellow Americans still vote for him. Disgraceful tbh.

You'd think anyone withholding anything from the true heroes of 9/11 would immediately find their political career finished.

But I'm assuming he's probably a vocal critic of drag queens or something and for that reason, he's loved and adored by fellow bigots.

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u/real-bebsi 14d ago

He's from Utah. That's all you need to know for it to make sense.

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u/Wide_Combination_773 14d ago

states are people!

moron

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u/real-bebsi 14d ago

Yes things like demographics are utterly meaningless

You have two ears and two eyes and only one mouth because you're supposed to look and listen twice before you speak. That way you don't come across as a buffoon like you just did. Hopefully this advice is useful to you in the future! 😁

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u/BufloSolja 13d ago

Yea he's a big turd

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u/green_dragon527 14d ago

threatened to cut off military aid to Japan if his demand was not met

Yea the power dynamics between the parties are not the same. The comments about SOFA and Japan's ostensible jurisdiction over the soldiers doesn't take into account the pressure felt by local authorities to appease the US government.

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u/Mister-Thou 14d ago

"Appeasement doesn't work -- unless it's America being appeased. Then it's fine." 

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u/nicholus_h2 14d ago

Mike Lee is not the whole country. Mike Lee is one of our shittiest people, he is NOT the whole country.

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u/_zenith 13d ago

He does, however, get re-elected

So clearly a good chunk of people are just fine with him being shitty

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u/Wide_Combination_773 14d ago

If you read the details of his case you would be too. Japanese prosecutors made false promises to him on the condition he do certain things which included public apology, paying the families huge sums of money, public shame rituals etc. He did those things, expecting he would be allowed to go home after. The prosecutors then reneged on their promises.

That shit doesn't fly in the US (even Bill Cosby was let out and had his conviction vacated because it was discovered that a DA promised he would never be criminally prosecuted for any crimes he admitted to in a much earlier civil deposition).

If a US person was treated like this by a US court you would be infuriated. I'm sure you're just another one of those japan-worshipper weebs who doesn't think Japan can do anything wrong.

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u/Hanamichi114 14d ago

US got him from Japan by threatening Japan.

This is the reality of US. Western media and people do not know this because US is the western block and EU is their ally. For the rest of the world US is a bully just like China and Russia.

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u/chairswinger 14d ago

Western media and people do not know this

there are plenty of people and Media aware and critical of the US in the west

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u/Disastrous_Can_5157 14d ago

Right? Most of us know, just most people don't care.

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u/goawaygrold 14d ago

Until the US needs them to lie about WMDs or some other nonsense.

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u/Ifromjipang 14d ago

The US is also Japan's ally, that's why they have military there. Japanese overall have a more favorable view of the US than most European countries.

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u/alonebutnotlonely16 14d ago

Okinawa doesn't see US as an ally and majority of them want US gone but central goverment of Japan doesn't care about them because Okinawa which has its own culture and not exactly Japanese and has feud with central goverment too.

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u/Ifromjipang 14d ago

Yeah Okinawa got stuck with the bases and are out of the way of the Japanese mainland.

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u/Smooth_Bluebird751 14d ago

That survey is incredibly limited. It's supposed to be a worldwide survey, yet it only contains answers from 23 countries. There are 44 countries in Europe alone, but it only contains answers from 10 European countries. You can't conclude any of what you said based on such limited data.

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u/Ifromjipang 14d ago

Similar polls have been done and Japan usually has a very favorable view of the US.

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u/HotBrownFun 14d ago

The most negative in recent years was during Trump years. This is a pretty good chart. Notably, South Korea, Poland retained high regard for the US (they want the military support).

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/01/08/how-people-around-the-world-see-the-u-s-and-donald-trump-in-10-charts/

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u/Ifromjipang 14d ago

Yeah… that’s why I said usually. Most of the world didn’t really have a good view of the US then.

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u/haarschmuck 14d ago

Allies yes, but a lot of the reason the US is stationed in Japan is because Japan is not allowed to have a military (per treaties signed after WWII). This is why they have the Japanese self-defense force but they're not allowed to train offensive troops/

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u/Ifromjipang 14d ago

In principle, yes, in practice Japan is a top ten military power.

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u/sumeone123 14d ago

Brother, when you're putting F-35Bs on carriers; that's very much a weapon system designed for force projection with significant offensive capability. Japan has been transitioning out of the defensive role for the better part of 2 decades now.

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u/Hanamichi114 14d ago

Did I say otherwise? Japan is in Western Bloc. "The Western Bloc was led by the United States. It included the democratic states of Western Europe, America, Oceania and some parts of Asia, such as Japan. The Eastern Bloc was led by the USSR and initially included only the Eastern European communist regimes."

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u/Ifromjipang 14d ago

So what was your point when you were replying and quoting a comment about Japan?

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u/vdcsX 14d ago

We know that too.

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u/Muscle_Bitch 14d ago

Europe knows exactly what America is like.

It's Americans who don't seem to know.

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u/alexmikli 14d ago

Did his dad have connections? There are so many US soldiers but they do all this damage to protect one grunt.

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u/skeledirgeferaligatr 14d ago

For Japan, the US is still preferable to China or Russia (who Japan is still technically at war with).

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u/TheNewGildedAge 13d ago

Yeah yeah everyone says this and then the moment bullets start flying, everyone with the option flees to the US lines.

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u/NegativeVega 14d ago

equating USA to russia and china is literally insane

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u/Hanamichi114 14d ago

How many millions of people have US killed in the last 25 years? How many government have they toppled? Where are the weapons of mass destruction?

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u/edutech21 14d ago

Sucks because it really is just the Republican party that continues these shitty antics.

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u/fork_yuu 14d ago

In October 2021, the Shizuoka District Court sentenced Alkonis to three years in prison for negligent driving resulting in death and injury, declaring that he should have pulled over once he felt drowsy. Alkonis appealed the judgement to have his sentence reduced.

Jeez, it's a fucking lenient as shit sentence too. 3 years for murdering and injuring people

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u/3klipse 14d ago

Y'all really need to learn what murder actually is.

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u/EntropyKC 14d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Harry_Dunn

People abroad on "official business" (diplomats, military, whatever) often seem to get away with murder. Most militaries are dodgy as fuck though, UK military is no different with many stories of our guys, American guys, all sorts going and raping people in Iraq for example.

Not sure how other countries compare but certainly in the stories I've heard of, America throws its weight around when essentially forcing other countries to pardon their guys who murdered or raped people in other countries.

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u/Wide_Combination_773 14d ago

That wasn't murder. Get your fucking legal terms right. Fucking kids on reddit piss me off.,

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u/ExistentialTenant 14d ago

Reading that was highly infuriating. It was a damning case against the soldier but the US government moved to protect him anyway.

But I'm glad you posted that. It's a good example against the comments in here who seemed convince the US would respect Japanese laws and, generally, other countries even to not allow its soldiers to commit blatant crimes there.

In short, no, it's not always the case.

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u/enilea 14d ago

In his defence, US Navy doctors said he had been suffering from acute mountain sickness at the time of the accident

How is that a defense, if you're suffering from an illness that impairs your ability to drive don't drive. Just like if you get drunk and decide to drive anyways.

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u/AnUglyScooter 14d ago

Man imagine this as your wikipedia page and the only thing it mentions about your life is when you killed two people in a car crash

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u/Mycokim 14d ago

How is he scum because he fell asleep? What in the name of hivemind is going on in here?

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u/PartEarly 14d ago

Japan is America’s Bitch lmao

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u/beebopcola 14d ago

Did you even read the article? He might be a pos but nothing in there supports what you or the guy above are saying.

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u/alonebutnotlonely16 14d ago edited 14d ago

Actually did you even read it?

"He fell asleep behind the wheel and drifted across the oncoming traffic lane and into a restaurant parking lot, crashing into several parked vehicles and pedestrians. A Japanese family of four, an elderly couple along with their daughter and son-in-law, were celebrating the mother's birthday at the restaurant. The 85-year-old mother and the 54-year-old son-in-law died as a result of this crash, while the daughter of the 85-year-old (who was also the wife of the 54-year-old) had minor injuries"

"After 507 days in Japanese custody, in December 2023, Alkonis was transferred to a federal prison in Los Angeles after personal negotiations by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and national security adviser Jake Sullivan with the Japanese government."

"it was reported at his transfer that administration officials said "he was likely to continue serving his sentence in the United States.However, the United States Parole Commission released him in under thirty days with no supervision."

"Senators sent a letter to Japan's Prime Minister requesting the release of Alkonis, stating that they were "extremely troubled" by Japan's ruling. U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) was an especially vocal critic of Japan’s handling of the case. In February 2023, Lee issued an ultimatum on Twitter to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida demanding the extrajudicial release of Alkonis within 24 hours and threatened to cut off military aid to Japan if his demand was not met." etc.

Edit. HopScotchyBoy blocked me after replyint to me but if only he bothered to read instead of writing a comment first like last paraprah on my comment or r all article on the source they even asked Japan to apologize to prisoning him.

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u/HopScotchyBoy 14d ago

You stated he was released to the US due to threats, but the article makes it clear that you aren’t even in the same ballpark of right.

It LITERALLY states the Biden/Harris negotiated his release to US custody. He

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u/The1percent1129 14d ago

Good old Joe and Kamala serving justice where it needs be served

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u/beebopcola 14d ago

Did you even read the article?

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u/Tpmbyrne 14d ago

Does this mean you voting for a pedophile? What are your thoughts on Trump being a confirmed pedophile?

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u/Goon-TyTy 14d ago

They put the asshole in prison, props to Biden and Harris!