A US Air Force member who set himself on fire outside of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC in protest of the Isreal–Hamas war has died, a US official said.
The news comes approximately 24 hours after emergency services responded to calls about the man setting himself ablaze outside of the embassy.
The man, who is identified as 25-year-old Aaron Bushnell of San Antonio, Texas, filmed himself and live-streamed it onto the social media platform, Twitch, claiming he was acting to “no longer be complicit in genocide”.
While streaming, the man poured clear liquid from a metal bottle and set himself alight while shouting “Free Palestine!”. The video has been removed from Twitch’s platform.
Though Secret Service officials successfully extinguished Bushnell, he suffered life-threatening injuries and later died at a local hospital, the MPD told The Independent.
The MPD is working with the US Secret Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to investigate the incident.
The Independent has reached out to the US Air Force for comment.
In this image taken from video, police are deployed outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024, after an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force was critically injured after setting himself ablaze outside the diplomatic compound.
(AP)
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