The Japan Times
Friday December 22, 2023
OSAKA – Japanese prosecutors have demanded an American known for streaming provocative videos pay a fine of ¥200,000 for allegedly streaming a video while playing loud music at a restaurant in Osaka earlier this year.
Ismael Ramsey Khalid, 24, known as "Johnny Somali" on YouTube, said during the first hearing in his trial Tuesday at the Osaka District Court that he regretted shooting a video at the gyūdon (beef on rice) restaurant. “I am sorry. I promise I will never take videos again,” he said as the court played a one-minute video he had streamed.
According to the indictment, Khalid obstructed the business of the gyūdon restaurant by taking a video with his smartphone while playing loud music in the early hours of Sept. 12. Khalid admitted to shooting a video but claimed that the music was played automatically.
In the trial concluded on Tuesday, prosecutors argued that the defendant’s action was to fulfill his desire for public recognition and that there was “no room for leniency.”
According to his defense team, Khalid is a graduate school student and came to Japan in August during summer break.
He was arrested in September for a separate incident, in which he allegedly broke into a construction site in Osaka. According to a video footage, Khalid wore a mask and repeatedly shouted "Fukushima" to construction workers who urged him to leave the site. He was not indicted in that case.
Khalid’s other videos include those in which he makes light of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and makes racist comments about Japanese people.