He repeatedly shouted "free Palestine" after setting himself alight.
A 25-year-old man, identified as Aaron Bushnell, set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, February 25. Swift action by officers from the US Secret Service prevented further harm as they extinguished the flames before rushing the man to the hospital, as per BBC. He has now been reported dead.
Before the self-immolation, Mr Bushnell declared in a live video on Twitch that he would "no longer be complicit in genocide." Dressed in military uniform, he identified himself as a serving member of the Air Force, proclaiming his intent to engage in an extreme act of protest. He repeatedly shouted "free Palestine" after setting himself alight and collapsing on the ground.
A bomb disposal unit was also dispatched to the scene to inspect a suspicious vehicle, but it was later declared safe when no hazardous materials were found. Fortunately, no embassy staff members were injured in the incident, according to a spokeswoman for the embassy.
Who was Aaron Bushnell?
- Mr Bushnell, originally from San Antonio, Texas, was raised in Massachusetts and went to public schools on the Cape Cod peninsula. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68405119
- Aaron Bushnell studied Computer Software Engineering at Southern New Hampshire University and took Computer Science courses at the University of Maryland Global Campus. https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-bushnell-875897280/
- Aaron Bushnell worked as a cyber defense operations specialist in the Air Force's 70th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Wing. He served with the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron and had been on active duty since May 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-air-force-member-set-fire-israeli-embassy-dc-died-rcna140455
- Mr Bushnell was also an "aspiring software engineer" according to his LinkedIn profile. He had been employed at a San Antonio-based company called DevOps from March 2023 until the current month.
- In his LinkedIn profile, Mr Bushnell mentioned graduating "top of class" from Air Force basic training in November 2020. He had a “talent and a passion for solving complex problems with code.”
Israel is currently in the midst of a military operation against Hamas in Gaza, prompted by a series of attacks by the Palestinian Islamist group. According to Israeli authorities, on October 7, Hamas allegedly killed 1,200 people in Israel and took 253 hostages in a cross-border attack. In response, Israeli forces initiated a military campaign in Gaza resulting in nearly 30,000 deaths, as per Hamas-run health ministry reports.