A member of the U.S. Air Force set himself on fire Sunday in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.
According to video of the incident, the airman said he was protesting the Israel-Hamas war.
“My name is Aaron Bushnell, I am an active-duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide,” he said in video posted on social media.
“I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest,” he added, “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 down his phone to film as he doused himself in a clear liquid and set himself ablaze while yelling “Free Palestine!” He was on fire for more than a minute before law enforcement and security officials were able to extinguish it.
In a statement, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department said it responded at about 1:00 p.m. to help U.S. Secret Service.
Bushnell, who was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, succumbed to his injuries, according to reports.
The Air Force has not confirmed his identity other than to say he was an active-duty Air Force service member.
This is Aaron Bushnell, 25, USAF service member who set himself on fire. pic.twitter.com/3OUmr5cj7W
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 26, 2024
In a final message on Facebook, he wrote: "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."
Join the conversation as a VIP Member