Why did Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC?

This article mentions suicide. Please read with caution.

Around 1 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024, active duty USAF airman Aaron Bushnell stood outside the Israeli embassy in Washington DC. “I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest,” Bushnell said, before dousing himself in an unknown flammable liquid and then lighting himself on fire.

According to The New York Times, law enforcement and Secret Service personnel rushed to rescue Bushnell, who was dressed in fatigues and reportedly live-streamed the incident on Twitch. The footage, about three minutes long, was later taken down. Bushnell, 25, was treated at an area hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries that night.

Bushnell protested the Israel-Hamas war

Before he self-immolated at the Israeli embassy, Aaron Bushnell, from Texas, spoke. Bushnell said he would no longer be complicit in genocide, before announcing he would engage in an “extreme act of protest,” as mentioned.

Bushnell then added, ” … [C]ompared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all.” Bushnell then lit the flames while shouting, “Free Palestine!” It took more than a minute for the fire to be put out. No one else was injured.

According to the Hindustan Times, Bushnell also posted on Facebook before lighting himself on fire. The post, which was later taken down, said,

“Many of us like to ask ourselves, ‘What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?’ The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”

via the Hindustan Times.

Bushnell is the second case of self-immolation since Oct. 7

According to The Washington Post, self-immolation is rare, but has been used as an anti-war protest several times throughout history. Aaron Bushnell is the second person to self-immolate in what was was believed to be a protest of the Israel-Hamas war.

In Dec. 2023, a woman whose name has not been released in the press set herself on fire with a Palestinian flag at the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, Georgia. In the immediate aftermath, she was reportedly in critical condition. As of this report, her status was unclear.

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