On Sunday afternoon, a man set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. According to the Metropolitan Police Department he has been taken to the hospital with life threatening injuries.
Update: The man has been identified as US airman Aaron Bushnell. Video of the protest has been released online as well. Aaron has since died from the injuries sustained from the fire.
Sources on social media further revealed that the man, dressed in military fatigues, identified himself as “an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force” and expressed his refusal to be complicit in genocide and proceeded to shout “Free Palestine” after setting himself on fire.
- This is now the second case of self-immolation outside an Israeli embassy or consulate in the United States since October 7th.
- A protester previously set themselves on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Georgia at the end of last year.
Context: Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas over 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip with two-thirds of those killed being women and children.