Posted on 02/26/2024 6:01:59 AM PST by Red Badger
"I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all," the airman said before lighting himself on fire.
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The man who died after setting himself on fire outside of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. while yelling, "Free Palestine" has been identified as 25-year-old active-duty U.S. Air Force member Aaron Bushnell after harrowing footage of the live-streamed incident emerged on social media.
Bushnell succumbed to his injuries from the protest after being hospitalized, a U.S. official said Monday, per NBC News.
"I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal," Bushnell said in a video he live-streamed on the video platform Twitch as he walked in uniform toward the embassy Sunday afternoon while carrying a metal water bottle.
The video is still available on X, formerly Twitter, but Twitch removed the channel where it was posted for violating the platform's guidelines, per The New York Times.
Bushnell set down his phone in front of the embassy and walked toward the gate as he poured liquid from the water bottle over his head saying, "Free Palestine." He struggled to light himself on fire for about 20 seconds as someone off camera can be heard asking multiple times if he needed help.
After lighting himself on fire, Bushnell can be heard yelling, "Free Palestine!" at least five times while yelling and going silent 20 seconds later.
This is not the first time a person has set themself on fire in the U.S. after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. A demonstrator self-immolated in December outside of the Israeli Consulate General building in Atlanta.
Follow Madeleine Hubbard on X or Instagram.
Yeah but he meant, "Do you need help lighting yourself on fire?"
“Bushnell started his career at the United States Air Force (USAF) in May 2020, having done Basic & Technical Training. He was trained as a Client Systems Technician having been educated in cybersecurity. He later worked as a DevOps engineer for the USAF while being based in San Antonio, Texas”
An IT geek. In our digital world the military can’t get enough of ‘em....many I was around in the DoD were often introverted and seem a little odd......never seen one set themselves on fire though.
His recruiter will probably get a bonus at a WH ceremony.
Lol.
I think this incident should settle any doubts if our own armed forces are capable of turning on us.
That’s hard core dude.....I wonder how that person felt after he went up like a torch.....sheesh
All part of the plan. Damage the image of the military so enlistments drop. Drive out the good people and lower the standards allowing the wrong people to get in. Rinse and repeat until the military has a large enough nut jobs in positions of leadership roles. Let the rot continue.
This maniac had access to military secrets.
Just think about that.
I guess if he makes it through, which I guess he won’t, he could have been eligible for a Harvard Davy Hogg Scholarship.
I did....when I saw he was active in military cyber security my first thought was “oh crap”.
He immolated for lies.
Recruiting goals are more important than the quality of the recruit. Part of that fundamentally changing America thingy.
If they identified him as "an active duty USAF member", why don't they include his rank? Strange that isn't brought up.
Next will be bomb vest in crowded streets.
Lately they are taking any warm body avalable
Mental illness is a terrible affliction.
Yes, me too. But I never knew any that set themselves on fire and wasn’t drunk or stoned. Total dumb@$$ery.
The military has tormented souls in the ranks as does the general population. This man was in such a dark place that he tied to project his demons on a warped political narrative and ultimately commited suicide. Pity him and his family.
Nowadays it's a recruitment quota.
All recruiters want is a warm body to put on the bus...................
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