The member of the US Air Force who is in critical condition after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, has been identified.
On Sunday afternoon, a video live streamed on Twitch showed the airman in uniform standing in front of the embassy gate and identifying himself as a member of the US Air Force (read here).
“I will no longer be complicit in genocide [in Gaza]. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest,” the man apparently said before setting himself alight and repeatedly shouting “Free Palestine!”
The man says his name is Aaron Bushnell at the start of the clip, according to footage circulating online. He is a 25-year-old airman.
A spokesperson for the Air Force confirmed that the protestor is an active-duty airman, though would not discuss his identity or rank.
Authorities at the scene could be heard asking “May I help you, sir?” and yelling at the man to get down on the ground while he was on fire, the footage showed.
One person sprayed the man with a fire extinguisher, while another appeared to draw his gun.
The troubling footage was quickly removed on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 25, because it violated the streaming app’s guidelines. But recordings of it made their way onto other social media platforms.
First responders were dispatched to the scene at about 1 p.m., a spokesperson from DC Fire and EMS confirmed.
By the time first responders arrived, the flames had already been extinguished by members of the US Secret Service, the fire service added.
The man was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Aaron’s last Facebook post was shared on Sunday, Feb. 25, just moments before his self-immolation exercise.
It reads: “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.”
It’s not the first instance of the extreme method of protest against Israel’s offensive in Gaza. In December, a protester set herself on fire outside Atlanta’s Israeli Consulate.
Watch the video of Aaron Bushnell below.
