Aaron Bushnell Self-Immolation Protest video.

Aaron Bushnell's Self-Immolation Protest

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Updated Feb 29, 2024 at 12:55PM EST by Zach.

Added Feb 26, 2024 at 09:21AM EST by Philipp.

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Overview

Aaron Bushnell's Self-Immolation Protest refers to a self-immolation committed in late February 2024 by U.S. Air Force member Aaron Bushnell in protest against the Israel-Hamas war, described by Bushnell as "genocide." Bushnell livestreamed the act on his Twitch channel lillyanarkitty when he set himself on fire in Washington D.C., prompting the viral spread of the video and photographs of Bushnell burning mid-act and an embassy guard pointing a handgun at the collapsed man. In the following days, Bushnell's Reddit account was also uncovered online under the username "u/acebush1."

Background

On February 25th, 2024, Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old U.S. Air Force active-duty member, set himself on fire in front of the Israel Embassy in Washington D.C. in protest against the Israel-Hamas war and the United States' support of Israel.

At 10:54 a.m. EST on February 25th, Bushnell made a Facebook[1] post in which he compared the United States' support of Israel during the Israel-Hamas war to slavery, Jim Crow South and apartheid (shown below, left; Bushnell's photograph shown below, right), linking his Twitch[2] channel LillyAnarKitty (since taken down).


Aaron Bushnell 22h 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. (A) TWITCH.TV LillyAnarKitty - Twitch Free Palestine ●●● 1.6K i 1.2K comments 526 shares

At approximately 1 p.m. EST, Aaron Bushnell streamed himself walking up to the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C., dousing himself with a flammable liquid and setting himself on fire, shouting "Free Palestine" several times before collapsing onto the ground. As Bushnell fell, several embassy guards approached him, with one pointing a gun at him and others extinguishing him with fire extinguishers.[3]

It's Aaron Bushnell. I'm an active duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but comparing to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.[…]
Free Palestine!

At 1:55 p.m. EST, X[4] / Twitter user @lynnsweet uploaded a video of the aftermath in which embassy workers and first responders surrounded Bushnell. Within one hour, reporter Talia Jane (@taliaotg) quoted the video, with the post garnering over 1,800 reposts and 5,800 likes on X[5] in one day (shown below, left).

Later that day, @taliaotg posted a photograph of Bushnell on fire and a report about the incident, which received over 42,000 reposts and 80,000 likes on X[6] in one day (censored version shown below, right).


Talia Jane @taliaotg Someone self-immolated (or tried to) outside the Israeli embassy in DC today. Lynn Sweet @lynnsweet 19h What happened outside Israel Embassy in Washington DC: Secret Service spokesperson told @Suntimes "Looks like someone attempted to set themselves on fire. DC Fire running point. Crews are searching his vehicle as a precaution" 2:28 PM. Feb 25, 2024 2.9M Views ... Talia Jane @taliaotg UPDATE: I got footage of the self-immolation at the Israeli embassy in DC. The individual, wearing fatigues, introduces himself as “an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide." After ignition, he repeatedly yells "Free Palestine." :

Also that same day, @taliaotg then posted a three-minute video of the act, livestreamed by Bushnell on his Twitch channel lillyanarkitty, to X[7] / Twitter, where it accumulated over 5.9 million views, 19,000 reposts and 33,000 likes in one day.

On February 25th, Aaron Bushnell died at the hospital from his injuries.[8]

Developments

"Rest In Power" Use Discourse

Following the news in late February 2024, multiple users online used the expression "Rest in power" to mourn and express respect for Aaron Bushnell's act (examples[12][13] shown below).


hadir @hadirnossir Rest in power, Aaron Bushnell. You will never be forgotten #FREEPALESTINE I WILL NO LONGER BE COMPLICIT IN GENOCIDE REST IN POWER AARON BUSHNELL 1998 - 2024 8:00 AM - Feb 26, 2024 - 2M Views : Dr. Jill Stein. @DrJillStein Rest in power Aaron Bushnell. "I will no longer be complicit in genocide. Free Palestine!" May his sacrifice deepen our commitment to stop genocide now. 10:38 AM Feb 26, 2024. 1.6M Views :

Over the following hours, several users on X / Twitter expressed concern with the use of the expression, which has commonly been used when honoring the legacy of hate crime victims and with Black people in particular, to honor the memory of Bushnell.

For example, on February 26th, 2024, X[14] user @laymagdalene wrote "rest in power is for BLACK people" in a post that received over 8,000 reposts and 13,000 likes in one day (shown below, left). Another since-deleted post by user @verinicalucya read, "can we not use this phrase on white men please."

Following the reactions, the use of the expression "Rest in power" became a viral topic of discussion on X / Twitter (example[12] shown below, right).


layla @laymagdalene rest in power is for BLACK people. black people have asked time and time again not to use this outside of the community. and every single time you do. Pata van Goon @basedalexandoor How do you outwoke the guy that literally self immolated ronicatulya can we not use this phrase on white men please. i get the sentiment but rest in power is historically used to mourn black people who were killed by hate crimes and police Jairo I Fúnez-Flores @Jairo_I_Funez. 1h Rest in power Aaron Bushnell. 1:04 PM. Feb 26, 2024 380.4K Views VERS : LALISED

Reddit Account and Activity

On February 27th, 2024, Aaron Bushnell's purported Reddit[15][16] account, /u/acebush1, was discovered by users. The account had a history of participation in socialist (/r/SocialistRA, /r/DankLeft, /r/bread_irl), anti-police (/r/ACAB), anti-Israel (/r/IsraelCrimes) and anarchy (/r/Anarchy101, /r/COMPLETEANARCHY) subreddits, with his other interests including programming, art and Elden Ring. The account was suspended on the same day.[17]

In the days following the discovery, screenshots of Bushnell's supposed posts were circulated by users online, used both to defend and attack Bushnell. For example, X[18] / Twitter account @reddit_lies posted a screenshot of a post allegedly made by Bushnell in the /r/ACAB[19] subreddit on January 30th, 2024, about deaths of deaths of three U.S. Army Reserve soldiers (shown below, left).

On February 27th, X[20] user @fluxus2 posted a screenshot of a comment purportedly made by Bushnell in October 2023 in which he wrote about his stance on the Israel-Hamas war (shown below, right).


ACAB r/ACAB u/acebush1 28d. HERO ● OhNoAnyway.jpg r/AirForce u/newnoadeptness • 28d Dod releases names of the three soldiers killed yesterday Haley Britzky @halbritz Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46 Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24 Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23 DOD announces the names of the three Army Reserve soldiers killed yesterday: 22 All assigned to 926th Engineer Brigade, Fort Moore, Ga. RIP. 2:57 PM 1/29/24 From Earth - 7.6K Views 1,061 points 162 comments Follow 120 5 Join 70 Cfluxus RIP Aaron Bushnell-CEASEFIRE NOW Ⓡ @fluxus2 This text was recently written by Aaron Bushnell. It demonstrates that Bushnell was entirely sane, knew his facts, was logical, coherent, and thoroughly lucid. acebush1 4mo Student of Anarchism Hey so I am not Palestinian an am in no position to endorse or condemn Hamas' actions. That being said, neither are most people, and there are a lot of very confidently ignorant opinions being thrown around. There are no Israeli "civilians" or tourists who have no part in the oppression of Palestine. That idea doesn't make any sense and betrays a lack of understanding of what the oppression of Palestine even is. Israel is a settler colonialist apartheid state. All of its residents or their immediate forebears have moved there specifically to settle on stolen land. Land whose people are being cornered and cleansed just a few miles away, or right next door in the case of the West Bank. There are no Israelis without the genocide of the Palestinian people. To bring this into stark relief, there is the example of the music festival which the liberal states and media have made such a point of clutching their pearls over. "A music festival! How could it get more innocent than a music festival!?" That music festival was happening just three miles from Gaza, within site of the border wall. Imagine a similar event happening in the early days of the colonization of North America. Can you or I really say that Indigenous people are wrong for retaliating against colonizers who are rubbing their domination in their face? 8:44 PM Feb 27, 2024 5.1M Views ● 15 10

Later that day, X[21] user @liliesuu then posted a comment supposedly made by Bushnell reading, "Palestine will be free when all the jews are dead," which saw viral spread online in the following days. The post comment could not be discovered in Aaron Bushnell's archived Reddit history and was potentially doctored.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]


EN Michael Tracey @mtracey There's a faked screenshot going around of something Aaron Bushnell supposedly said on Reddit. But, again, it's fake. Instead of contending with his actually-stated views, certain people prefer to fabricate evidence of him being a rabid Jew hater. Very original tactic lili & @liliesuu This is who leftists are praising acebush1 2mo ago Palestine will be free when all the jews are dead 23 Reply Share 9:00 PM Feb 27, 2024 102.4K Views 267 456 2.5K 7:57 AM Feb 28, 2024 223.8K Views 214 : ↑

Online Reactions

The video of Bushnell's self-immolation, the photograph of Bushnell burning and a photograph of an embassy guard pointing a gun at the collapsed man received viral spread on X / Twitter in the hours following the act.

On February 25th, 2024, X[9] user @mattlieb quoted @taliaotg's post, writing about the December 2023 self-immolation by a protester in Atlanta that didn't receive significant coverage and commenting, "Wonder if this will also get ignored by media and politicians." The post received over 9,300 reports and 32,000 likes in one day (shown below, left).

Later that day, X[10] user @JamesTCarterII posted a photograph of an embassy guard pointing a gun at Bushnell as another embassy worker attempted to extinguish him, criticizing the guard's actions. The post (shown below, right) received over 19,000 reposts and 91,000 likes in one day.


Matt Lieb?? @mattlieb This is the *second* protester to self-immolate in front of an Israeli embassy to protest the genocide. Wonder if this will also get ignored by media and politicians. Talia Jane @taliaotg. 19h UPDATE: I got footage of the self-immolation at the Israeli embassy in DC. : The individual, wearing fatigues, introduces himself as "an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide." Show more 4:25 PM. Feb 25, 2024 2.8M Views James T Carter @JamesTCarterII This is the most quintessential image I have ever seen of who cops the US really are and what they actually do Matt Lieb?? @mattlieb. 11h He's pointing a gun at a man fully engulfed in flames. x.com/mattlieb/statu... 10:59 PM. Feb 25, 2024 1.9M Views

Quotes from Bushnell's speech given before the act also saw viral spread. On February 25th, X[11] user @karaokecomputer posted an image of a guard pointing a gun at Bushnell paired with Bushnell's quote, “This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.” The post (shown below) garnered over 3,400 reposts and 14,000 likes in one day.


James T Carter @JamesTCarterII This is the most quintessential image I have ever seen of who cops the US really are and what they actually do Matt Lieb?? @mattlieb. 11h He's pointing a gun at a man fully engulfed in flames. x.com/mattlieb/statu... 10:59 PM. Feb 25, 2024 1.9M Views

Search Interest

External References

[1] Facebook – Aaron Bushnell

[2] Twitch – lillyanarkitty

[3] X – @taliaotg

[4] X – @lynnsweet

[5] X – @taliaotg

[6] X – @taliaotg

[7] X – @taliaotg

[8] X – @ShaykhSulaiman

[9] X – @mattlieb

[10] X – @JamesTCarterII

[11] X – @karaokecomputer

[12] X – @hadirnossir

[13] X – @DrJillStein

[14] X – @laymagdalene

[15] Reddit – acebush1

[16] Reddit – acebush1

[17] Reddit – Source to see all of Aaron Bushnell’s Reddit history

[18] X – @reddit_lies

[19] Wayback Machine – OhNoAnyway.jpg

[20] X – @fluxus2

[21] X – @liliesuu

[22] Reddit – acebush1

[23] Reddit – acebush1

[24] Reddit – acebush1

[25] Reddit – acebush1

[26] Reddit – acebush1

[27] Reddit – acebush1

[28] Reddit – acebush1

[29] Reddit – acebush1

[30] Reddit – acebush1

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Top Comments

Juki Nuki
Juki Nuki

in reply to Juki Nuki

Watching these people eat each other alive over the phrase "rest in power" makes me want to both laugh and gag simultaneously. The fact that someone agrees with them so much as to kill himself for their cause, only for these people to rag on him for being white and calling for racial segregation of obituary courtesies is something out of a satire so fucking dark it would make George Carlin go pale. God, this is so fucking infantile and sanctimonious – just like almost everything to come out of the pro-Palestine camp

TL:DR; people are racially barring terms of respect for someone who committed suicide for their cause out of self-righteous racial self-hatred and it's almost too pathetic to be funny

+44

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