- Written by Tom Geoghegan, Kayla Epstein, and Mike Wendling
- BBC news
A vigil for Aaron Bushnell was held in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
On Sunday, a U.S. airman self-immolated outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., shouting “Liberate Palestine!”
After Secret Service agents extinguished the fire, Aaron Bushnell, 25, was taken to the hospital.
“I no longer intend to take part in genocide,” he said before igniting what he called “radical protests.”
No embassy staff were injured in the incident, the spokesperson said.
A Pentagon spokesperson called the incident, which occurred at 13:00 local time (18:00 Japan time), a “tragic event.”
In a video streamed live on the streaming site Twitch, Bushnell, dressed in military uniform, identified himself and said he was an active duty Air Force member.
Previously, he had emailed numerous reporters and left-wing and anarchist news websites. One of the groups he received the email from, the Atlanta Community Press Collective, provided a copy to the BBC.
“Today I am planning an extreme protest against the genocide of Palestinians,” the email said, warning that it would be “very alarming.”
Mr. Bushnell was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
A bomb squad was dispatched to the scene due to concerns about a suspicious vehicle that may be associated with this person. This was declared safe as no harmful substances were detected.
Washington police said officers were working with the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate the incident.
Bushnell, a San Antonio, Texas, resident, grew up in Massachusetts and attended public schools on the Cape Cod Peninsula, according to a statement from the local school district.
The Air Force has not confirmed details of Bushnell's military service, citing family notification policies, but military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported that he held the rank of senior airman.
In his Linkedin profile, Bushnell said he graduated from Air Force basic training “at the top of his class” in November 2020 and was aiming to “transition from the U.S. Air Force into software engineering.”
The Israel-Gaza war broke out on October 7 last year when Hamas armed groups invaded southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages.
Israel responded by launching a military operation in Gaza, during which 29,300 people were killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
As of mid-January, 1.9 million civilians in the Gaza Strip, or 85% of the population, had been displaced by Israeli military operations, according to the United Nations.
In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the attack in the face of international criticism, saying the United States would “do something much worse” if it had suffered such an attack. .
This is not the first time someone has self-immolated in front of Israel's diplomatic mission to the United States since the conflict escalated.
Police said a Palestinian flag found at the scene was part of a protest.
