US airman dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington
On Sunday, a tragic incident occurred in Washington DC as a US airman, Aaron Bushnell, tragically lost his life after immolating himself in front of the Israeli embassy.
He was heard shouting “Free Palestine” before being extinguished by Secret Service officers and rushed to the hospital.
Prior to his extreme act of protest, Bushnell declared his refusal to remain complicit in what he termed as genocide. Fortunately, no embassy personnel sustained injuries during the incident, according to a spokeswoman.
A Pentagon spokesman characterized the event, which occurred at 13:00 local time (18:00 GMT), as a “tragic event.”
In a live-streamed video on Twitch, Bushnell, garbed in military attire, identified himself as a serving member of the Air Force.
Before the incident, he had communicated via email with several journalists, as well as left-leaning and anarchist news outlets. The Atlanta Community Press Collective, one of the recipients of his email, provided a copy to the BBC.
“Today, I am planning to engage in an extreme act of protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people,” the email read, warning it would be “highly disturbing”.
Mr Bushnell was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
A bomb disposal unit was sent to the site over concerns about a suspicious vehicle that could have been connected to the individual. This was declared safe after no hazardous materials were found.
Washington police said officers were working with the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate the incident.
Mr Bushnell, of San Antonio, Texas, was raised in Massachusetts and attended public schools on the Cape Cod peninsula, according to a statement from a local school district.
The Air Force would not confirm details of Mr Bushnell’s service, citing family notification policies but Stars and Stripes, a military newspaper, reported that he had held the rank of senior airman.
In his LinkedIn profile, Mr Bushnell stated that he had graduated from Air Force basic training “top of class” in November 2020 and that he had been seeking “to transition out of the US Air Force into software engineering”.
The Israel-Gaza war erupted on 7 October last year when Hamas gunmen infiltrated southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 others hostage.
Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which 29,300 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
As of mid-January, 1.9 million civilians in Gaza have been displaced amid Israel’s military operations, according to the UN, accounting for 85% of its population.
In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the offensive in the face of international criticism, saying America would be “doing a hell of a lot more” if it had suffered such an attack.
It is not the first time someone has set themselves on fire in front of an Israeli diplomatic mission in the US since the intensification of the conflict.
In December, a protester self-immolated in front of the Israeli consulate in the US state of Georgia.
A Palestinian flag found at the scene was part of the protest, police said.
