What to Know:
The United States airman, identified as Aaron Bushnell, 25, who set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, yesterday in protest of Israeli military operations in Gaza has died, according to the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Service Department.
The Incident:
In a video live-streamed to Twitch, Bushnell, of San Antonio, Texas, could be seen walking down the street in his OCP uniform saying:
“I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people are 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.”
As he approached a gate by the embassy, he dumped a water bottle filled with a flammable substance over his head and began to ignite a lighter. Once the fire started, Bushnell yelled “Free Palestine!” several times as he became engulfed in flames before collapsing.
He was quickly surrounded by several uniformed members of the United States Secret Service, who extinguished the fire. Bushnell was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition, where he later died.
The United States Air Force has not officially commented on the matter.