Hideo Kojima Wrongly Accused Of Being Shinzo Abe's Assassin After News Outlets Run False Story As Fact

Shortly after the assassination of Shinzo Abe early this morning, news about the murder of the former Prime Minister of Japan spread quickly as people were scrambling for details.

As is usual whenever these types of things happen, people go online and spread misinformation about who is allegedly responsible. This time, the target of the misinformation was prolific video game auteur and pseudo-political activist Hideo Kojima, the father of many beloved game series.

The reasoning for Kojima's falsely claimed involvement came in the form of a photo taken of the assassin (whose real name is Tetsuya Yamagami), which was compared to pictures of Kojima with Russian and anti-capitalist iconography, as well as a Joker shirt. A thread was made on 4chan that labeled Kojima the shooter, which is what inspired others to create images and suggestive memes that pointed to Kojima as the one involved.

Someone actually post this and called Hideo Kojima the guy who killed Shinzo Abe pic.twitter.com/bxtC6WiAd6

— 💿Haj Pucci Haghgo💿 (@HajPucciHaghgo) July 8, 2022

Shinzo Abe's shooter is an avowed communist. pic.twitter.com/DUuJA5QyTU

— DISGRUNTLED NWO PR GUY They/Them ✡🍕🇺🇦 🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (@PrNwo) July 8, 2022

🚨 #BREAKING ⚓🇯🇵⚓ | Japanese Navy sailor TETSUYA YAMAGAMI has been identified as Shinzo Abe's shooter. pic.twitter.com/UlaxHdIWIZ

— Terror Alarm (@terror_alarm) July 8, 2022

Whether an earnest mistake or simply a meme, the posts about Kojima being responsible with pictures of him portrayed as a devout anti-capitalist proved plausible to some, as multiple news sources abroad purportedly picked up on the story and ran with it — broadcasting to multiple countries that Hideo Kojima, "the radical," was responsible for this assassination despite no evidence for or against it.

This blunder was picked up by people across social media, who quickly called out the Greek news station and French politician who said Kojima's name in relation to the assassination.

Hey, HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN</a>, a greek tv station, <a href="https://twitter.com/AntennaNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">AntennaNews, said that you killed Shinzo Abe! pic.twitter.com/HyJf9He5dL

— λορδος μητσαρας (@lordosmhtsaras) July 8, 2022

Some iranian news website actually thinks that hideo kojima is the person who assassinated Shinzo Abe pic.twitter.com/1B7MnyRu34

— Arson the Raboot (@ArsonRaboot) July 8, 2022

In a now deleted tweet, French far-right politician Damien Rieu accused the far-left of murdering Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and used photos of game developer Hideo Kojima instead of pictures of the current suspect Tetsuya Yamagami pic.twitter.com/2zpmL5kVnD

— Nox Dawn 🐸 (@NoxDawn) July 8, 2022

Greek news channel using pictures of Hideo Kojima wearing a Soviet ushanka, Joker t-shirt and standing next to a photo of Che Guevara – saying he’s Shinzo Abe’s assassin!? pic.twitter.com/JiwZKtA7pJ

— The Kavernacle (@TheKavernacle) July 8, 2022

If you're used to being in meme circles during tragedies, you may be wondering, "What about Sam Hyde?"

In a long-standing series of memes, Hyde has consistently been blamed online and pushed as the main suspect in almost every single tragedy to happen over the last several years — and this incident was no exception. While there were some actors online pushing the Kojima angle, many who weren't new to the game had posts already memeing about Sam Hyde's alleged involvement.

BREAKING: The gunman who assassinated President Hideo Kojima has been identified as notorious otaku Sam Hyde, pictured here with the murder weapon pic.twitter.com/DwM6AviTe3

— Lydtenant Commander 🌠 (@LtOnEnterprise) July 8, 2022

BREAKING:#ShinzoAbe's shooter identified as Samzuki Hydaiko. "A known political extremist and Yakuza member" pic.twitter.com/C3TFyINo5a

— Elsa of Arendelle ᡕᠵ᠊ᡃ࡚ࠢ࠘ ⸝່ࠡࠣ᠊߯᠆ࠣ࠘ᡁࠣ࠘᠊᠊ࠢ࠘𐡏 (@EOA_Bants) July 8, 2022

BREAKING NEWS: SHOOTER OF FORMER PM SHINZO ABE BELIEVED TO BE MEMBER OF ANTI-NATIONALIST ANARCHIST GROUP, HAIDA SAMURU.

— Mack (@kenzietuff) July 8, 2022