“It takes every ounce of courage”: Internet honours U.S. Air Force member who died after setting himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy in DC

An extremely distressing site took over the internet on Sunday, February 25, when a U.S. Air Force serviceman set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. Although the flames were extinguished, D.C. Fire and EMS reported that the man was taken to a nearby hospital with "critical life-threatening injuries." It was later reported by independent journalist Talia Jane, who was in contact with the serviceman's loved ones, that he had succumbed to his injuries.

TRIGGER WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS AND IMAGES OF SELF-IMMOLATION

The man, later identified as Aaron Bushnell, who live-streamed burning himself on Twitch, claimed that he did not wish to be "complicit in genocide" anymore and shouted "Free Palestine" as the flames took over his body. Many social media users were left extremely distressed by his death and hoped that his sacrifice would not go in vain and paid tribute to the fallen Air Force serviceman. One X user said:

Aaron Bushnell self-immolated in front of the Israeli embassy (Image via X/@Jairo_I_Funez)

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Tributes pour in for Aaron Bushnell, who burned himself in front of the Israeli embassy

According to a Twitch livestream video shared by independent journalist Talia Jane on X, with the permission of Aaron Bushnell's loved ones, Bushnell could be seen live-streaming himself walking to the Israeli embassy. He identified himself as an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force and said:

"I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I'm 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 fascists decided would be normal."

After propping his phone up, Bushnell moved in front of the gates of the Israeli embassy and poured liquid all over himself before saying "Free Palestine" and lighting himself on fire. He proceeded to yell "Free Palestine" and scream out in pain multiple times as the flames completely took over his body.

Towards the end of the video, police personnel and the Secret Service could be seen extinguishing the flames with fire extinguishers. DC Police reported that the incident took place at the 3500 block of International Drive at around 1 p.m.

DC Fire and EMS confirmed that Secret Service members extinguished the fire and that the serviceman was transported to a hospital in the area with "critical life-threatening injuries." Talia Jane later reported that Bushnell had succumbed to his injuries.

Many social media users were highly distressed by the incident and paid their tributes to Aaron Bushnell. Netizens hoped his sacrifice would not be in vain as they echoed his message. One user even claimed that Bushnell's photo should be on the front page of every newspaper. Here are a few X reactions to Bushnell's passing:

CBS News reported that the U.S. Air Force did confirm that an active duty serviceman was involved in the Israeli Embassy incident but did not mention Bushnell's identity. A friend of Bushnell's named Xylem, who worked with him to help the unhoused residents of San Antonio, told Talia Jane that he was one of the most "principled comrades" he ever had.

Aaron Bushnell was 25 years old, and according to his LinkedIn page, he was a DevOps engineer who had been serving in the Air Force for three years and ten months. His bio described him as an "aspiring software engineer."