The charge of a US Marine in the killing of a Japanese woman has once again put under the microscope the role played by the American military in Okinawa, a place where tensions have existed for many years now between residents and US troops due to issues of crimes and the safety of the locals in connection with US military bases in the area. Japanese officials have indicted Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, a 20-year-old man accused of murdering and robbing 39-year-old Anna Yagi in the city of Naha.
As reported by The Guardian, Ballard is charged with strangulation of Yagi at a hotel and theft of her backpack, which supposedly contained a wallet.
