Who was Aaron Bushnell, US airman who set himself ablaze outside Israeli embassy?

Prior to the incident, Bushnell reached out to media outlets, articulating his intent to protest against the Palestinian genocide. The event prompted heightened security measures, including a bomb disposal unit inspection, though no hazardous materials were found.

A mourner places incense at a memorial during a vigil for U.S. Airman Aaron Bushnell, who died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington on February 25 in an apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 26, 2024. (REUTERS)

A US military service member, Aaron Bushnell, set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington DC on Sunday, in an apparent protest against the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Donning military attire, Bushnell recorded himself shouting ‘Free Palestine’ before immolating himself, claiming the Israeli actions in Gaza is a “genocide”. Despite swift intervention by the Secret Service, Bushnell later died.

The Air Force’s 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing said Bushnell was a cyber defense operations specialist. Bushnell served with the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron, it said.

Who is Bushnell?

Bushnell, originally from San Antonio, Texas, was raised in Massachusetts and went to public schools on the Cape Cod peninsula, according to a BBC report. The Nauset Public School system confirmed in a statement that he was a pupil in its system from 2003 to 2007, and from 2013 to 2014.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Bushnell was also an “aspiring software engineer” who had worked for a San Antonio-based company called DevOps from March 2023 until this month.

Prior to the incident, Bushnell reached out to media outlets, articulating his intent to protest against the Palestinian genocide. The event prompted heightened security measures, including a bomb disposal unit inspection, though no hazardous materials were found.

On his Facebook page, Bushnell at 10:54 a.m. Sunday posted a link to a “Free Palestine” channel on Twitch.TV that has since been taken down. Just before that he posted what appeared to be a call to action.

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“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 post read. “The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”, news agency NBC reported.

Bushnell’s death came as the Israel-Hamas war has stretched into its fourth month.

Not the first protest

In December, a woman set herself on fire outside the Israeli Consulate General building in Atlanta. A Palestinian flag was recovered from the scene and police described the incident as an “extreme political protest.”
There have been worldwide protests against Israel ever since it invaded Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas surprise attack on Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Hamas also took 240 hostages.

Nearly 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

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