U.S. military police on a joint patrol of Gate 2 Street in Okinawa city, Okinawa, Japan, on Dec. 6, 2025. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — U.S. Forces Japan has acknowledged that military police on patrol on an Okinawa street made a “mistake” when they aggressively detained a U.S. civilian last month in an incident captured on video that went viral.
Two videos posted online show a U.S. military police officer lifting and slamming Kareem El to the pavement along Gate 2 Street in Okinawa city early Nov. 22. The incident ignited a social media backlash.
“While the investigation is still ongoing, it is clear that the detention of Mr. El was a mistake on the part of the patrol, who approached him solely because they believed he was a U.S. servicemember,” USFJ spokesman Col. John Severns wrote in an email to Stars and Stripes on Friday.
The Washington Post first reported Severns’ statement on Thursday in Washington, where El is from. El has said he was on Okinawa on a business trip.
USFJ commander Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost halted unilateral patrols by the U.S. military on Okinawa and ordered an investigation into the incident, Severns said by email Nov. 26. El is not connected to the military and was detained by a liberty patrol consisting only of U.S. military police, Severns said.
U.S. military police continue joint patrols in Okinawa city with Okinawa Prefectural Police, most recently on Dec. 6 on Gate 2 Street, a popular nightlife district outside Kadena Air Base.
USFJ instituted the joint patrols in April to enforce an order prohibiting service members from drinking alcohol off base between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. The order stemmed in part from a rash of sexual assault allegations that arose in December 2023 and have so far yielded two convictions.
The U.S. military began its own patrols in September in Okinawa city and in November in Chatan town and Naha city, Okinawa’s capital.
El, 32 and a former Marine captain, told Stars and Stripes in an interview Nov. 28 that he was detained without provocation in front of Star Bar around 2 a.m. on Nov. 22.
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who is representing El, in a statement Nov. 29 said he suffered a head injury, wrist lacerations, cuts and abrasions and “significant psychological trauma.”
In a Dec. 4 video call with Merritt and Stars and Stripes, El said he was dropped from three feet onto concrete, injuring his face and the left side of his body. He said the slam injured his knees, and his wrists were lacerated from being handcuffed.
Merritt said his office has opened its own investigation and is exploring possible civil claims against the individual police officers involved in the incident and the U.S. military.
Merritt said he has spoken to U.S. and Japanese citizens who claim to “have suffered similar injuries or harassment.” He did not say how many he interviewed.
AloJapan.com