Ketteler flogged a Chinese who appeared to be a Boxer, and beat a boy who was with him after taking him to the Legations. Ketteler then shot him dead. In response, thousands of Chinese Muslim Kansu Braves under General Dong Fuxiang of the Imperial Army and Boxers went on a riot. The Kansu braves and Boxers then attacked and killed Chinese Christians around the legations in revenge for foreign attacks on Chinese. Angry at the Chinese Christians for collaborating with foreigners who were murdering Chinese, the Boxers burned some of them alive and attacked and ransacked their property. Some Muslims also assassinated the secretary of the Japanese legation, Sugiyama Akira, tearing him apart.