Man who set himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy has died
- Man identified as 25-year-old Aaron Bushnell from San Antonio, Texas
- Bushnell was an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force
- In December, a man self-immolated in front of the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta
In this image taken from video, police are deployed outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024, after an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force was critically injured after setting himself ablaze outside the diplomatic compound. (WJLA via AP)
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(NewsNation) — An active-duty service member who set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., has died, NewsNation confirmed Monday.
The man has been identified as 25-year-old Aaron Bushnell from San Antonio, Texas.
The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed in a statement they responded to the call involving Bushnell, who served in the Air Force, at 1 p.m. Sunday, and Bushnell was taken to a local hospital by paramedics. He later died from his injuries.
The MPD is working with the United States Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to investigate the incident.
The Associated Press, citing an unidentified source, said Bushnell declared he would “no longer be complicit in genocide” before lighting himself on fire in protest over the U.S. response to the Israel-Hamas war.
Bushnell had walked up to the embassy shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday and began livestreaming on the video streaming platform Twitch, a person familiar with the matter told AP. Law enforcement officials believe the man started the livestream, set his phone down and then doused himself in accelerant and ignited the flames.
Secret Service personnel who responded to the incident had extinguished the fire before paramedics arrived and told NewsNation affiliate The Hill that Bushnell “was experiencing a possible medical/mental health emergency.”
In December, a man set himself on fire outside of the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta. Israeli embassies and consulates around the world have been targets for protests during the war between Israel and Hamas that began in October.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
