US Airman confirmed dead after setting self on fire outside Israeli embassy
An active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force has died after he set himself ablaze outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., while declaring that he “will no longer be complicit in genocide.”
The 25-year-old airman, Aaron Bushnell, of San Antonio, Texas, died from his injuries, the Metropolitan Police Department said Monday.
Bushnell had walked up to the embassy shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday and began livestreaming on the video streaming platform Twitch, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Law enforcement officials believe the man started a livestream, set his phone down and then doused himself in accelerant and ignited the flames.
At one point, he said he “will no longer be complicit in genocide,” the person said. The video was later removed from the platform, but law enforcement officials have obtained and reviewed a copy.
The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
Protests at Israeli embassies have become frequent since the October 7 attack by Hamas that killed 1,200 Israelis.
In retaliation, Israeli forces have waged a military campaign against the coastal enclave, reducing much of it to waste, with nearly 30,000 people dead and several others injured, according to Palestinian health officials.
A similar incident occurred in December when a pro-Palestine protestor set themselves ablaze outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta.
The city’s police chief, Darin Schierbaum, described the incident as an ‘extreme act of political protest,’ and said a Palestinian flag was recovered from the scene.
