WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An active-duty US airman set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., the US Air Force confirmed Sunday evening, just hours after the fiery incident unfolded.
He is now in critical condition at a local hospital, said D.C. Fire and Emergency Services (FEMS).
D.C. FEMS responded to a call about a person on fire just before 1 p.m. on Sunday, a spokesman said.
“We arrived to find an apparent adult male who had been on fire,” Vito Maggiolo, the FEMS public information officer, said, adding that U.S. Secret Service members had extinguished it. The man was rushed to a local hospital to be treated for “critical life-threatening injuries.”
The Air Force confirmed that the man involved is an active-duty service member.
In a video of the incident, the man identifies himself as Aaron Bushnell and says, “I will no longer be complicit in genocide” before going on to say that what he’s about to do is minimal compared with the suffering of Palestinians.
He then sets the recording device on the ground before pouring an unknown liquid over himself and igniting it while yelling “Free Palestine” repeatedly. He eventually collapses as police officers rush to douse the flames with fire extinguishers.
A similar incident occurred in December when a protester self-immolated at the Israeli consulate in Atlanta. Authorities discovered a Palestinian flag near the consulate, part of the protest against Israel’s ongoing military action in the Gaza Strip. — NNN-AGENCIES
