Man handed a two-month hospital order for thanking Plaza Hollywood murder suspect

A 34-year-old man with a delusional disorder, who praised the murder suspect in the Plaza Hollywood stabbing and encouraged random violent attacks, was handed a two-month hospital order on Wednesday. 

The defendant Lee Chi-wai pleaded guilty to two counts of incitement to commit wounding and for inciting others to grievously wound unknown people on May 30 and June 3. 

The West Kowloon Court heard that Lee had posted a photo of Cheng Chieh, who committed a mass stabbing on a Taipei train and killed four in 2014, on his Facebook page in May and advocated similar violent attacks. 

In June, Lee also published a post to “thank” the murder suspect in the Plaza Hollywood stabbing, wishing that there were more people like that in society. 

Lee once wrote on the messaging app, Telegram: “Violence is the only solution to all problems, which is why we need war and killing.” 

Lee was arrested on June 5. Under police caution, he said he had committed the crime because he was in a bad mood and he felt that someone was trying to “set him up.” 

During a recorded meeting accompanied by his parents, Lee admitted he had a delusional disorder and believed expressing his thoughts online could grant him protection. 

Magistrate Jeffrey Sze Cho-yiu pointed to the serious nature of the crime and noted that Lee had published a significant number of posts on various social media platforms. 

Given Lee’s mental disorder records, and in the interests of society and Lee himself, Sze referred him for a psychiatry report and handed down two-month hospital order.