A 25-year-old Air Force service member, Aaron Bushnell, passed away on Sunday afternoon outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. This incident has been declared suicide because Aaron set up a live stream, then stood before the embassy gates and lit himself on fire while shouting “Free Palestine.” He was seen as horrific and deadly, protesting against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Who was Aaron Bushnell?
Aaron Bushnell was 25 years old; he was a member of the U.S. Air Force recruited in San Antonio. He was originally from Cape Cod in Massachusetts. He has been working in information technology and development operations since May 2020 as an active-duty member.
The self-immolation at the Embassy
Aaron began his livestream shortly before 1 p.m. on Sunday; he then walked towards the Israeli Embassy with an insulated water bottle full of flammable liquid. “I will no longer be complicit in genocide,” he said in his video. “I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”
He then put his mobile phone on the ground, ran towards the gate of the Embassy, and poured the flammable liquid from the bottle onto his body. “Free Palestine,” he said as he struggled to light himself. A law-enforcement officer approached, asking, “Can I help you, sir?” At this point, Bushnell lit himself on fire, screaming, “Free Palestine.”
The aftermath and Bushnell’s death
The Secret Service agent had received a call about this incident, and then the Secret Service rushed towards the Israeli Embassy, but before their arrival, Aaron had already put fire on him. The Secret Service tried to extinguish the fire before the arrival of the fire department. Then, Aaron was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:06 p.m. on Sunday.
Some hours before his death, he emailed several websites and alerted them that he was planning something against the genocide of the Palestinian people. He also mentioned that this would be the most disturbing final act.
Bushnell’s act was not the first self-immolation in apparent protest of the Israel-Hamas war. In December, a woman lit herself on fire in front of the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta in what police described as an act of “extreme political protest” over the war. The woman survived but sustained third-degree burns over her entire body and was hospitalized in critical condition. Her identity has not been released by police. A 61-year-old Army veteran who worked as a security guard at the consulate suffered severe burns when he attempted to save the woman.
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