US Airman Who Set Himself Ablaze Outside Israel Embassy In Washington Finally Died
LAGOS FEBRUARY 27TH (NEWSRANGERS)-US Air Force member Aaron Bushnell has died from his injuries after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, officials confirmed on Monday.
A US Air Force spokesperson confirmed to The Post that 25-year-old Bushnell died overnight, though she did not officially name him citing the ongoing notification of next of kin.
Officials were still contacting family members Monday and will not officially announce his death until 24 hours after that is complete, the Air Force representative said.
A Metropolitan DC police spokesman also confirmed Bushnell’s death to The Post, but would not say when or where he succumbed to his injuries.
There was no immediate word on Bushnell’s cause of death.
A harrowing video livestreamed on Twitch on Sunday afternoon appeared to show the serviceman dressed in uniform standing in front of the embassy and identifying himself as a member of the US Air Force.
“I will no longer be complicit in genocide [in Gaza]. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest,” Bushnell reportedly said, before dousing himself with an unknown liquid and setting himself ablaze while repeatedly crying out “Free Palestine.”
Just hours before his deadly act of self-immolation, Bushnell posted a final message on Facebook.
Explore More
“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,” he wrote.
The message included a link to the Twitch livestream, which was later removed for violating the platform’s community guidelines.
A closer look at the airman’s social media page revealed that he followed two Ohio-based anarchist groups — Burning River Anarchist Collective and Mutual Air Street Solidarity.
He also liked an account belonging to the Kent State University chapter of the radical pro-Hamas group Students for Justice in Palestine.
In the now-deleted video capturing the airman’s fiery protest, Bushnell was sprayed with a fire extinguisher before firefighters arrived on the scene to take him to the hospital with life-threatening injuries around 1 p.m. He was initially listed in critical condition.
No embassy staffers were injured during the fire, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, according to GLZ Radio.
Bushnell was not known to the embassy before the incident, the statement added.
The airman had served with the US Air Force for nearly four years and was based in San Antonio, Texas, according to his LinkedIn profile.
For the past year, Bushnell worked as a software engineer while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Southern New Hampshire University.
Bushnell described himself on the professional networking site as an “aspiring software engineer with a wide breadth of experience in web development.”
“I have a talent and a passion for solving complex problems with code,” he added.
As a teenager, Bushnell worked for two years in IT and web development for Paraclete Press — a Brewster, Massachusetts-based publisher of Christian books and music where his mother still works.
Danielle Bushnell, 57, is listed on the publisher’s website as the company’s “Purchaser and Contracts Administrator.”
“Danielle feels beyond blessed to be a part of carrying out the mission of Paraclete Press for 27 years and counting,” her online bio reads. “Her other passions include teaching American history and government to homeschoolers, playing the bass clarinet, caring for her dog, Jasper, and her cat, Lilac.”
Aaron Bushnell’s father, 57-year-old David Bushnell, has worked for the past decade as a construction supervisor with an architectural firm headquartered in Orleans, Mass.
The Metropolitan DC Police, the US Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the deadly incident.
New York Post
For media advert placement, events coverage, public relation consultancy, media placement and furher inquiries please WhatsApp 2348023773039 or email: labakevwe@yahoo.com
Short URL: https://newsrangers.com/?p=121090
Posted by News Rangers
on Feb 27 2024. Filed under International, National.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
