Teen arrested over alleged assault on Amos Yee at Suntec City
Videos of the incident, which took place outside the Doujin Market anime convention, showed a cosplayer raining punches, kicks and elbows on Amos Yee as he crouched on the floor.
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SINGAPORE: A teenager has been arrested after allegedly assaulting Amos Yee at Suntec City Convention Centre on Saturday (May 9).
In response to CNA's queries, police said they received a call for assistance at about 2.15pm.
"Upon arrival, officers established that a 27-year-old male subject was assaulted by a 18-year-old male subject," they added.
"The 27-year-old male subject sustained minor injuries and the 18-year-old male subject was subsequently arrested for causing public nuisance."
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Police investigations are ongoing.
Videos of the incident, which took place outside the Doujin Market anime convention, showed a cosplayer raining punches, kicks and elbows on Yee as he crouched on the floor.
The pair then back away from each other, before the teen rushed at Yee, tackling him to the ground from behind.
The altercation ended after a bystander intervened.
Responding to CNA queries, Doujin Market organisers, Neo Tokyo Project, confirmed Yee had been banned from the event and refused entry after reports of his intention to attend made its visitors feel unsafe.
They said that the fight was not at the convention, but elsewhere within Suntec City.
“We do not condone acts of violence at all and think it's unfortunate that such an altercation happened,” a spokesperson added.
“Our focus remains on ensuring the safety of our convention visitors and exhibitors, now and in the near future.”
In an earlier Instagram post, organisers said they had been alerted to Yee’s plans to show up to the event.
“We’ve received lots of reports from the community that a known problematic influencer intends to attend the show. He will not. We've cancelled his ticket and are working to ban him from all our shows.
“We take the safety of everyone at our convention very seriously ... We have a no-tolerance policy for a reason. We're enforcing it now.”
Described as Singapore’s premier pop culture creators convention, Doujin Market runs from Saturday to Sunday at Suntec.
Yee had left Singapore for the United States in 2016, after being jailed twice in Singapore for making remarks about Christians and Muslims.
He was granted asylum by the US in 2017, but was later charged with possessing child pornography and grooming a minor in October 2020.
He was sentenced to six years' jail after pleading guilty in the US in December 2021. Halfway through his sentence, he was granted parole but was taken back into custody soon after for violating parole conditions.
In November last year, Yee was detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement after he was released on parole from the Danville Correctional Center in Illinois.
He was then deported to Singapore.
Yee faces charges under the Enlistment Act for dodging National Service (NS) obligations.
In 2015, Yee was slapped outside the State Courts by a man, with the incident also widely circulated on social media.
The offender, Neo Gim Huah, was convicted and given three weeks' jail, after a judge ruled that a custodial sentence was needed to send the message that vigilante justice cannot be condoned.
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