A US serviceman, Aaron Bushnell, on Sunday, set fire to himself outside the Israeli embassy in Washington DC in protest against the genocide of Palestinians.
Shortly before committing the suicide, Bushnell said he was protesting against the genocide of Palestinians. He later died from his injuries in hospital.
In an apparent protest against the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force described the war as a “genocide”.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) identified the deceased demonstrator in a statement to TIME on Monday as 25-year-old Aaron Bushnell, whose identity and death were first reported on social media by an independent journalist Talia Jane.
Bushnell, seen wearing fatigues on Sunday in Washington, was a DevOps engineer. He was based in San Antonio, Texas, according to his LinkedIn profile.
DC Fire and EMS initially said in a post on X on Sunday that it transported an adult male in critical condition to an area hospital after being dispatched to an incident outside the Israeli embassy.
U.S. Secret Service members on the scene extinguished the fire.
The Secret Service spokesperson, Joe Routh, said in a statement that officers of its uniformed division responded to what appeared as “an individual that was experiencing a possible medical/mental health emergency”.
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Embassy spokesperson, Tal Naim, told media outlets that no embassy personnel were injured.
MPD said it is working with Secret Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate the incident.
It noted in an earlier post on X that it also investigated a suspicious vehicle near the scene. However, no hazardous materials were found.
Spokespersons for the U.S. Air Force confirmed to CNN, the New York Times, and the Washington Post that the man, who set himself on fire, before his public identification, was an active-duty airman.
Defense Department policy states that service members on active duty should “not engage in partisan political activity”.
Military regulations also prohibit wearing the uniform during “unofficial public speeches, interviews, picket lines, marches, rallies or any public demonstration which may imply sanction or endorsement by [the Defense Department] or the Military Service”. (time.com)
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