Utah Sen. Mike Lee delivered an ultimatum via Twitter to the Japanese government to return an imprisoned Navy officer to the United States.
WASHINGTON — Utah Sen. Mike Lee delivered an ultimatum via Twitter to the Japanese government toIn a series of tweets on his personal account, the Republican senator demanded that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida free Lt. Ridge Alkonis by the end of February or face having Congress reevaluate the U.S. security agreement with Japan.
You've made whatever point you wanted to make by imprisoning him and claiming that you're treating him the same as you would a Japanese national. You've made your point poorly and counterproductively, but whatever—it's time to bring your standoff to an end.
A Japanese judge determined Alkonis had fallen asleep at the wheel and lost control of his vehicle, which plowed into pedestrians and parked cars in a restaurant parking lot two hours from Yokosuka Naval Base, where he was serving as anti-submarine warfare officer.But U.S. Navy investigators determined that Alkonis suffered from acute mountain sickness and lost consciousness. His wife and children said that he was not sleepy and appeared to black out.
The U.S. has about 55,000 troops stationed in Japan at more than half a dozen bases and other facilities. Lee tweeted ahead of the summit that Kishida needed to have Alkonis with him when he arrived in Washington. Alkonis' wife, Brittany, and, urging Biden to seek the lieutenant's release. But it's unclear if the case came up.
Lee said he and others have remained "relatively quiet" over the situation hoping the prime minister would do the right thing.
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