Controversial IRL streamer arrested in Japan over alleged trespassing to harass construction workers
By Bryan Ke
Controversial IRL (in real life) streamer JohnnySomali was recently arrested after he filmed himself trespassing in a hotel construction site in Osaka in late August.
What happened: JohnnySomali, whose real name was revealed after the arrest to be Ismael Ramsey Khalid, a 23-year-old American citizen, was livestreaming on Kick when he filmed himself going inside a hotel construction site in Chuo Ward, Osaka, on Aug. 30.
Caught on camera: A clip of the livestream re-uploaded to X, formerly Twitter, last week shows Khalid wearing a Halloween mask as he and his camera man go inside the restricted area.
Khalid is also accused of repeatedly shouting “Fukushima” to construction workers as an apparent mockery of the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on March 11, 2011. One worker furiously escorted Khalid out of the site.
Their arrest: Khalid was arrested on Thursday outside a 7-Eleven store in Osaka, where several officers waited for him.
Another man, Jeremiah Dwane Branch, 24, also a U.S. citizen, was also arrested on Friday. X users purportedly identified him as Jino, the person who filmed Khalid during the trespassing. Both men reportedly refused to speak to the police without a lawyer.
Context: Khalid rose to notoriety for his viral video in May, in which he harassed train passengers in Tokyo by repeatedly saying “Hiroshima” and “Nagasaki,” referencing the two Japanese cities the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on during World War II.
He was assaulted in public on several occasions, including a recent incident where he received a bloodied face from getting punched. Many users on X had repeatedly called for his arrest for causing trouble in Japan after the past incidents.
Reactions on X: Several X users celebrated after hearing the news of Khalid’s arrest, with one user writing, “I’m so glad this little sh*t and his friend were finally arrested. Lock him up and throw away the key!”
“Hearing about Johnny Somali getting arrested and potentially facing prison time is music to the ears of many especially with his past behavior,” another user wrote in their post.
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