(WatchDogReport.org) – According to an NBC News February 26 report, the United States Air Force member who protested against the Israel-Hamas war by setting himself on fire in front of Israel’s Embassy in Washington, DC, has died. Police authorities identified him as a 25-year-old man named Aaron Bushnell from San Antonio, Texas.
In a livestream, Bushnell could be seen dressed in military fatigues and yelling for the liberation of Palestine. He also called the attacks of the Israeli government against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Gaza a “genocide,” claiming that his protest wasn’t as extremist as the suffering of innocent Palestinians. After delivering those remarks, Bushnell put his smartphone down, poured a liquid from a water bottle over his head, and ignited himself.
The Fire and Emergency Medical Service Department of the Columbia District received a call about a man on fire in front of the Israeli embassy at 12 pm on February 25. However, members of the US Secret Service put out the flames by the time firefighters arrived at the scene.
Bushnell was immediately rushed to a hospital nearby with life-threatening injuries and eventually died. Numerous reports said that an Air Force spokesman confirmed that Bushnell was currently an active-duty airman. According to Bushnell’s LinkedIn profile, he was also studying software engineering and has been working for a company called DevOps since March 2023.
On his Facebook page, the airman shared a link to a post a couple of hours before protesting in front of the embassy. The post, which was eventually taken down by authorities, called for radical actions in light of the numerous bombings executed by the Israeli military on Gaza and in how the United States was supporting Israel in its “genocide” against Palestinians.
Following the news about his death, many people and organizations posted condolences on social media. Even Hamas published a statement where it said that Bushnell was a “heroic pilot” who stood in solidarity with the “innocents.”
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