The drama behind a pepper-spray incident at Comic Fiesta 2017, a gaming, anime, and cosplay convention held over the weekend at KLCC, has taken a turn for the dramatic, with online witnesses claiming that a suspect who used pepper spray at the convention, causing the site’s evacuation, was being bullied.
Police revealed to The Malay Mail that the suspect, identified online as Muhammad Azzan, had been “causing trouble,” leading to security at the event being alerted. When approached, he is alleged to have assaulted the security official, as well as a convention patron.
Police report that they found a metal baton, paintball gun, knife, bear spray, and pepper spray on Azzan after detaining and searching him.
The incident occurred Sunday evening at 6:45pm. Officials allege that when security and a patron approached Azzan, who was wearing camouflage, he sprayed them with pepper spray, making the closed space all but impossible to stay in. Many attendants believed the attack to be a bomb, and panic soon ensued.
What would anime be without out drama?
As soon as the incident was made public, a social media friend of Azzan’s, going by Ilyssa Alissy on social media, posted a lengthy Facebook status telling the public that bullies had “premeditated intent to harass and derange him.”
https://www.facebook.com/ilyssa.chan.6/posts/10155511019767659
A video later circulated of some of the bullies’ taunting, and of the suspect reacting to them with his baton.
While we here at Coconuts KL have a zero-tolerance policy on bullying, we also share a zero-tolerance view on carrying around a baton, pepper spray, bear spray, paintball guns and knives in public areas where not just those who are allegedly bullying you are present. The idea that any member of the public could inadvertently fall victim to someone’s “derangement” is disconcerting, and even more worrying is the lack of responsibility that Azzan and his friend are willing to take for exposing hundreds of people to these weapons. And make no mistake, they are weapons.
A quick perusal of Azzan’s Facebook account shows a propensity to post photos of automatic weapons, claiming that with one gun in particular, he had found his preference.
These are dated from 2016, and indicate a penchant for reactive reasoning, as opposed to you know… just telling bullies to f*ck off.
The suspect is no stranger to press. Earlier this year, he was exposed as an online predator within the cosplay community. A popular cosplayer and blogger, Tora Chee, claimed that he was preying on young, naïve girls, and sending them inappropriate late-night messages. She posted one such conversation that he sent a friend of hers. If you can make it through this without cringing, then you deserve a medal. Special shout-out goes to his promises of a three-hour kissing session without “conquering” (ummm … ew).
Chee added that he had initially tried to harass her online, speaking extensively about her breasts, before blocking her, and trying to sway the affections of her naïve friend.
Meanwhile, a police report has been lodged against Azzan by the security official and member of the public caught in the line of pepper-spray fire.
**An earlier edition of this story had indicated that Ilyssa Alissy had been at the event with Azzan. She was not. We apologize for any misinterpretation.
