U.S. airman who set himself on fire at Israeli Embassy dies of injuries

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A U.S. airman who set himself on fire in an apparent protest at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., has died of his injuries, military officials confirmed Monday

Washington Metropolitan Police said a man identified as Aaron Bushnell, 25, of San Antonio, set himself on fire on the sidewalk in front of the embassy in northwest Washington on Sunday shortly before 1 p.m.

D.C. Fire officials told reporters Secret Service agents extinguished the flames before emergency responders arrived at the scene and that the man was then rushed to a local hospital with critical injuries.

Air Force officials told the Washington Post shortly after the incident that the man was, indeed, an active duty airman. On Monday, they confirmed in a statement issued to media outlets that the airman had died of his injuries.

"The individual involved in yesterday's incident succumbed to his injuries and passed away last night," the statement read.

It was soon learned that Bushnell had posted a since-deleted video of his self-immolation on the social media platform Twitch in which he says he is carrying out the act as a protest against Israel's war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

An edited version of the video, which nevertheless still contains disturbing and graphic scenes of the incident, was posted on YouTube by Turkey's Anadolu Agency.

In it, Bushnell is seen walking up to the gates of the Israeli Embassy while talking to the camera. He declares he "won't be complicit in genocide anymore" and says that what he's about to do "is nothing compared to what Palestinians have been going through at the hands of their colonizers."

He then put the camera on the ground, douses himself in an accelerant and sets himself on fire while yelling, "Free Palestine!"

A review of Bushnell's LinkedIn page by the San Antonio Express-News revealed he described himself as an "aspiring software engineer with educational and work experience in software development and Linux system administration."

His stated plans included transitioning "out of the U.S. Air Force into software engineering," while listing his work experience as three years and 10 months in the Air Force and work as a development operations engineer from May 2023 to the present.

"I have been commended by senior leaders for my ability to explain complex technical matters to them," he wrote. "I can bring many such soft skills to the table in any role."

Protesters have been demonstrating regularly at the Embassy since Israel launched its military campaign Hamas in early October. The war came in response to the Oct. 7 surprise attack in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds more kidnapped by Hamas.

The Gaza campaign has resulted in the deaths of more than 29,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, according to Palestinian health officials.