Anti-U.S. military political party All Okinawa said about 2,500 people attended a rally in Ginowan city, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. The demonstration focused on sexual misconduct charged against U.S. service members. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

GINOWAN CITY, Okinawa — Organizers said a demonstration near Marine Corps Air Station Futenma drew about 2,500 people, including Okinawa’s governor, condemning sexual assaults allegedly committed by U.S. service members.

The protest — organized by the anti-U.S. military political party All Okinawa and two civic groups fighting in the courts to eliminate base aircraft noise — took place Saturday afternoon at Union Desukara Dome Ginowan.

The mostly older protesters sat in sweltering heat as various officials spoke their minds through a microphone onstage.

Senior Airman Brennon R.E. Washington was indicted in March on charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor in December. He pleaded not guilty during his first court appearance on July 12. In June, prosecutors indicted Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton on attempted sexual assault charges.

“We knew in June about the sexual assault incident that happened in December last year,” All Okinawa co-chairman Susumu Inamine, a former mayor of Nago city, told the crowd. “It is clear that the government was hiding information. The people of the prefecture and the governor were kept in the dark. This is unforgivable.”

The protest was originally organized to mark the 20th anniversary of a U.S. military helicopter crash at nearby Okinawa International University, but the recent indictments took up much of the focus. A CH-53D Sea Stallion from MCAS Futenma crashed on the campus Aug. 13, 2004, damaging the school’s administration building but causing no casualties.

“I chose to participate in the protest because the victim of the sexual assault incident was a woman, and it made me think, ‘What if the victim were a relative?’” Yukiko Yagi, of Naha city, told Stars and Stripes before Saturday’s event.

To address the alleged misconduct, U.S. Forces Japan commander Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp announced last month a “new forum of cooperation” with the Japanese and Okinawan governments and community members. The Marine Corps has increased courtesy patrols in Okinawa’s popular nightlife spots and instituted near-100% outbound sobriety checks at all its Japan installations on weekends in response to the incidents.

Speakers and protesters also condemned the recent return of Osprey flights over the island. The U.S. military grounded its fleet of about 400 tiltrotor aircraft Dec. 6 through March 8 as it investigated the Nov. 29 crash of an Air Force Osprey off the southern coast of Japan that killed eight service members.

Anti-U.S. military political party All Okinawa said about 2,500 people attended a rally in Ginowan city, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. The demonstration focused on sexual misconduct charged against U.S. service members. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

The accident was caused by cracks in a metal gear and the pilot’s decision to keep flying rather than heed multiple warnings that he should land, according to an Air Force investigation released Aug. 1.

“The report said that the accident occurred because of human error,” said protester Itaru Tomimoto, of central Okinawa. “Don’t let people fly who can’t fly. It is killing people.”

Two Osprey squadrons at MCAS Futenma resumed flights on March 14.

“The sky is dangerous because of the Ospreys; the water is dangerous because of PFAS,” Chiemi Yonashiro, a representative for parents at Futenma Daini Elementary School and Midorigaoka nursery school, told the protesters. “I am extremely angry.”

In December 2017, workers discovered a small part from a Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter on the roof of Midorigaoka, about 330 yards from MCAS Futenma. A week later, a Super Stallion’s window dropped onto a sports field at nearby Futenma Daini school, where more than 50 children were playing.

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki made a brief appearance onstage at the end of the hourlong rally.

“It’s legitimate that us, the Okinawans, speak out against the government,” he said.

Inamine reserved some of his strongest words for officials in Tokyo.

“The government of Japan, which does not protect Okinawa and its people, cannot be called a democratic country,” he told the crowd.