Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old senior airman in the U.S. Force, indulged in a superlative political protest on February 26 of 2024.
Bushnell’s protest took place by the front gate of the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. He had stated that the protest was opposed to “what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers” and therefore promulgated that he would “no longer be complicit in genocide”, after took place his excruciating and unexplainable pain.
He set his phone down on the floor, walked over to the front gate and then soaked himself with an ignitable liquid.
Bushnell at first struggled to light himself when someone in the background asked him “Hi sir, can I help you?” He continued through the struggle until his clothing was able to catch fire. From the beginning to the last breath he yelled out, “Free Palestine”. Bushnell mentioned in his stream that he considered this an “extreme act of protest” but that it wasn’t anything “compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine”.
The flames took over rapidly and help wasn’t able to get there fast enough. Two service officers attempted to extinguish him while one pointed a gun at him.Once extinguished he was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.Unfortunately, Aaron Bushnell’s death was confirmed by D.C. police the following day. There have already been many memorials around the U.S. and in other areas in Bushnell’s honor.
It is now known that Bushnell had secret knowledge of American troops fighting in Hamas tunnels under Gaza from what his friends have declared.“He told me that we had troops on the ground that were there and were there killing large numbers of Palestinians. There’s just too many things I don’t know but I can tell you that the tone of his voice just had something in it that told me he was scared.” Is what one of his friends has publicized and yet neither the Air Force nor the White House has commented on this claim.
This isn’t the first time society sees such an extreme act of protest. December of 2023, a woman who hasn’t been publicly identified burned herself using gasoline outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta. She survived but suffered from third-degree burns. Authorities believed that this act was a way of protest since a Palestinian flag was found at the scene.
Is this what it takes for voices to be heard?
UPDATE: March 2 was the first official aid drop to Gaza from the U.S. “Three U.S. C-130s dropped over 36,800 meals into mother Gaza to provide critical relief to civilians there,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. during a briefing yesterday, March 5. This is officially the second combined airdrop to deliver the humanitarian assistance the people of Gaza needed.
Though extreme, Aaron Bushnell’s protest wasn’t in vain, as we can finally see actions by our government to help the Palestinian people. Many hope these are first of many humanitarian aid attempts made to alleviate the situation in Palestine.
