POSSIBLE THREATS BY AUM SHINRIKYO TO US INTERESTS

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06837304
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: July 13, 2023
• Document Release Date: January 4, 2022
• Case Number: F-2017-01316
• Publication Date: October 27, 1995

Approved for Release: 2021/11/30 C06837304
SEC1g;
27 October 1995
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Possible Threats by Aum Shinrikyo to US Interests
Articles in the Japanese press have speculated that Aum Shinrikyo was planning
to assassinate President Clinton and/or to attack US interests in Japan
Aum fugitives who may
have stashes of chemical agents pose a continued danger--potentially to participants of the
APEC Conference, but more likely to the Japanese population
Aum Shinrikyo was formed by its leader, Shoko Asahara, to
enable him to attain his lifelong ambition to achieve political power in Japan.
Aum's preaching of Armageddon, nuclear and chemical weapons holocausts,
and the coming ot a Third World War had more to do with Asahara's political aspirations than
with actual world events. Asahara and his followers apparently believed that in the wake of this
violent destruction the Japanese public would turn to him for leadership and Salvation. The cult's
efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction were, in our judgment, part of Asahara's plan to
make his doomsday "prophecies" self-fulfilling.
Aum's portrayal of the US as an enemy of the Japanese people served to reinforce Asahara's
prediction of a nuclear holocaust. The fact that the US had already dropped two atomic bombs
on Japan in World War II presumably helped to make Asahara's scenario believable. Asahara
claimed that he and his people were already the victims of gas attacks by US military aircraft to
not only reinforce the assertion that the US was an enemy but also to draw attention--relating to
gas leaks--away from Aum's own sarin lab.
SEeitrr
Approved for Release: 2021/11/30 C06837304
Approved for Release: 2021/11/30 C06837304
SEreitiT
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
�
SUBJECT: Possible Threats by Aum Shinrikyo to US Interests
Japanese press stories of threats by Aum Shinrikyo to US facilities or President Clinton are
speculation and do not appear to be supported by hard information. For example, an article in
Shukan Gendai claims that "the cult reportedly had secretly put together a plan to assassinate US
President Clinton come what may." Among the "evidence" cited to support this claim is a
reference to security countermeasures in Washington, with the inference being made that US
agencies believed Aum followers were planning to assassinate the President using sarin. The
article also cites a passage in the cult's periodical Vajrayana Sacca in January 1995 that "it would
not be strange" if Clinton were assassinated. The article asserts that the Japanese police
interpreted this passage as an "assassination notice."
The
Shukan Gendai article also raises the possibility of Aum "linking up' with other anti-Americin
groups to "carry out the deed."
Until the five Aum fugitives are captured, tne tnreat
2
SESREf
(b)(3)
Approved for Release: 2021/11/30 C06837304
Approved for Release: 2021/11/30 C06837304
SP
SUBJECT: Possible Threats by Aum Shinrikyo to US Interests
of a retaliatory attack cannot be ruled out, although Japanese rather than Americans would be the
most likely targets. The attention and extra security focused on the APEC summit in Osaka may
provide an opportunity for surviving Aum members to attempt an attack in Tokyo similar to the
subway gassing.
Approved for Release: 2021/11/30 C06837304