‘NMI community faces no threat’

The Chinese national that was the subject of various social media posts that insinuated a public community threat over the weekend remains at large. However, the Department of Public Safety has assured that the community does not face any imminent danger.

Over the weekend, the month-old mugshots of wanted fugitives Ye Fang, better known as Batu, and Yu Qui Min went viral in the CNMI community, along with videos of firearms and other graphic, violent videos. According to the captions of these posts, Batu, who remains at large, was allegedly threatening the community with a shoot-out.

However, after investigating the viral posts over the weekend, DPS spokesperson Adrian Pangelinan said in a press briefing that these videos were not directed at the CNMI community and that they were shot over two years ago.

“We want to clear up that our officers have been looking into these videos since they surfaced, specifically the videos showcasing heavy weaponry, and the video of the wanted fugitive [Batu] choking another unknown individual. We found that these videos are not recent and there is no threat to the community,” he said.

According to Pangelinan, the video was taken by a Chinese female two years ago. DPS has chosen to withhold the name of the woman to protect her privacy. DPS was able to speak with the woman via translator and she assured officers that the video was not meant to threaten the community; instead, it was a threat to Batu who she claims had threatened her and her family.

Adrian Pangelinan

In addition, DPS said that, upon further investigation, the guns shown on the videos have all been accounted for and are legally registered with DPS.

“For the first video, we want to clear up that it was taken about two years ago. The female individual in that video was identified and we have spoken to her and we do know who she is. The weapons in that video have been accounted for, they are currently registered in the CNMI. The owner of those weapons is the husband, a local male. The female individual took that video two years ago and was not making a public threat, nor was the threat directed at any law enforcement. The video was just showcasing the weapons that she has and will use if needed to protect her and her husband because they allegedly received a threat from Batu,” he said.

“For the second video, the one of fugitive Batu choking an unknown individual, [that video] was taken five years ago,” Pangelinan added.

Pangelinan also touched on the messages that circulated in the internet warning members of the community not to go to a handful of Chinese-owned stores as they were allegedly on Batu’s hit-list.

“These messages were all rumors. We looked into it, visited the stores, and they all reported that there were no shootings or signs of a threat,” he said.

Saipan Tribune also visited these stores, namely Twins and Mingyang, who all confirmed that there were no shooting threats.

“It was just rumors spread to make people stop coming to our store. I wish people would stop causing more panic…without facts. It’s not good,” said a cashier.

Meanwhile, the Public School System also sent out a memorandum to parents assuring them that they are working closely with DPS to put in place plans in case of a shooting incident.

Because of this, Pangelinan wants to remind everybody to be cautious and vigilant when forwarding or sharing sensitive information such as this as it could cause unnecessary public panic, which did.

Due to the threat, Pangelinan said, schools went on the defense and there were students who did not to go to school.

“I know that there’s a lot of public scare out there regarding the videos. We want to emphasize that the public should be vigilant when they receive and even when they continue to forward these messages and videos because these can cause public panic, which was happening over the weekend. We really want to remind the people to be a little bit more cautious because these messages were reaching children as well. I do know that some kids probably did not go to school because they were scared. That’s one day of school they lost out on learning something. So please, be mindful,” he said.