By Maya-Claire Glenn, Devin Malast, Mark Siquig
February 28, 2024
LONG BEACH, Calif.- Active duty Air Force member, Aaron Bushnell died after participating in self-immolation as a form of protest outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. on Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. EST.
Bushnell stated that he, “…will no longer be complicit in genocide.” He also made it clear that he, “…was 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 is not extreme at all.” He said the phrase “Free Palestine” repeatedly after igniting himself. Bushnell broadcasted the act on the live-streaming platform Twitch.
According to the Air Force and a report released by CNN, Busnell was a cyber defense operations specialist assigned to the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Wing. He had been on active duty since May 2020.
The events appear similar to an incident that occurred in Dec. when a person set themselves on fire outside the Israeli consulate building in Atlanta.
The death of Bushnell follows the veto of a ceasefire in Gaza by the United States in the UN on Feb. 20. The United States was the only country out of 15 to veto the UN Security Council ceasefire resolution, the United Kingdom abstained from voting.
The call for a ceasefire in Gaza has been persistent by numerous countries in the UN following the events since Oct. 7 and bombing campaigns led by the Israel Defense Force that have led to the death of nearly 30,000 Palestinians.
