Aaron Bushnell

Free Palestine

Yesterday was the anniversary of his death. Here is a summary extracted from Wikipedia. RIP Aaron. He was braver and more courageous than I could have been, and shamed the criminals who support, fund and defend genocide.

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On February 25, 2024, Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old serviceman of the United States Air Force, died after setting himself on fire outside the front gate of the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. Immediately before the act, which was live-streamed on Twitch, Bushnell said that he was protesting against "what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers" and declared that he "will no longer be complicit in genocide", after which he doused himself with a flammable liquid and set himself on fire.

Bushnell's act was the second self-immolation protesting United States support for Israel in the Gaza war, which has killed over 40,000 Palestinians and resulted in a major humanitarian crisis.

Bushnell drafted a will before immolating himself, which left instructions for his savings to be donated to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund and his cat to be left with a neighbor after his death.

On February 25, 2024, 10:54 a.m. local time, the morning of his self-immolation, Bushnell had posted a message on Facebook: "Many of us like to ask ourselves, 'What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?' The answer is, you're doing it. Right now."

He sent a message to media outlets: "Today, I am planning to engage in an extreme act of protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people."

At approximately 12:58 p.m. local time, Bushnell, dressed in military fatigues, approached the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., intending to immolate himself as an act of protest against the war in Gaza. While live-streaming, he walked towards the embassy and said:

I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force. And 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.

Outside the embassy, Bushnell placed his camera down, positioned himself in front of the gates, and poured a flammable liquid over himself. A security officer approached Bushnell, asking if he needed help, but was ignored.

After igniting himself, Bushnell repeatedly shouted "Free Palestine!" as he was burning, and eventually collapsed to the ground. The security officer radioed in for assistance. A Secret Service officer approached the scene, aimed a gun at Bushnell off-camera, and ordered him to "get on the ground" multiple times while a police officer yelled: "I don't need guns, I need fire extinguishers!" He was transported to a local hospital by the DC Fire & EMS. At 8:06 p.m. local time, about seven hours after his self-immolation, Bushnell was declared dead from his burn injuries.