Aaron Bushnell, 25, succumbed to his injuries overnight after lighting himself on fire as he screamed ‘Free Palestine’ on Sunday in a protest he livestreamed.
US airman Aaron Bushnell is being praised by the far-left as a martyr for setting himself on fire in a fatal pro-Palestine protest outside the Israeli embassy in DC.
In the aftermath, pro-Palestine activists including presidential candidates Jill Stein and Cornel West have expressed their admiration for the engineer.
Stein wrote on X: ‘Rest in power Aaron Bushnell. May his sacrifice deepen our commitment to stop genocide now.’
West added: ‘Let us never forget the extraordinary courage and commitment of brother Aaron Bushnell who died for truth and justice! I pray for his precious loved ones! Let us rededicate ourselves to genuine solidarity with Palestinians undergoing genocidal attacks in real time!’
Farhana Sultana, a professor of public affairs at Syracuse University, told her followers that, despite his self-immolation, Bushnell was of sound mind.
‘RIP Aaron Bushnell, who self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy as political protest against genocide. Don’t believe the spin doctoring otherwise. He showed more moral clarity and courage than politicians & genocidaires,’ said Professor Farhana Sultana.
‘They till try to spin doctor it as mental health issues, but he was rational & clear about his political reasoning, which resonates with majority of the world. May his sacrifice not be in vain. Indeed, it was legitimate moral outrage and courage against the holocaust & barbarity in Palestine with US full participation. May his sacrifice not be in vain, may his last words on this earth ring true #FreePalestine.’
Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King wrote: ‘I want to honor a young man that was so disturbed by the genocide of Palestinians that he set himself on fire yesterday at the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC. Instead of harming someone else, he made a choice that of course seems strange and disturbing to all of us, but I empathize with him.’
Some moderates have taken issue with the glorification of suicide, including Slate writer Mark Joseph Stern, who is now being slammed for saying he opposes any form of suicide.
He wrote: ‘I strongly oppose valorizing any form of suicide as a noble, principled, or legitimate form of political protest. People suffering mental illness deserve empathy and respect, but it is wildly irresponsible to praise them for using a political justification to take their own life.’
Pro-Palestine social media accounts quickly took to the comments under Stern’s post.
One said: ‘There is no evidence he was unwell. What he had was conviction, but I can understand why that’s so foreign to you.’
Another added: ‘Just because you would never give your life for a noble cause doesn’t mean that everyone who would is doing so because they’re ill.’
A third wrote: ‘Liberals are framing Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation as “self-harm” or a cautionary tale of “mental health crisis” because they cannot fathom the concept of martyrdom.’
Bushnell’s parents Dave and Danielle Bushnell are longtime members of the Community for Jesus church in Orleans, Massachusetts, which has been accused in the past of functioning as a cult that abuses and controls its followers.
Despite Bushnell’s fatal protest, the church loudly supported Israel on its social media, reposting messages that strongly defend Israel’s operation in Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 terrorists’ attacks.
‘Only Hamas is deliberately targeting civilians. Hamas seeks to force the Israeli military to violate the rules of war; Israel accepts that there are no rules that Hamas gunman would ever follow,’ reads one of the messages reposted by the Community of Jesus.
‘The odd result is that a sick world is more accepting of deliberate mass murdering by Hamas than occasional accidental collateral damage by Israel.’
Danielle works as the Purchaser and Contracts Administrator for the literary arm of the church, Paraclete Press. Meanwhile David’s Facebook lists his association with the church, as well as to offset groups including the Church of the Transfiguration.
The Community of Jesus appears to have disconnected its phone on Monday morning after DailyMail.com tried to contact them.
A member of the Cape Cod community wrote on X: ‘Aaron was a sweet boy. He came out of the Community of Jesus on Cape Cod, which many regard as a cult. It was my impression that he joined the military as a way of detaching himself from the Community, though I never explicitly discussed it with him.
‘I could just tell he was under stress at the time. This is incredibly sad and a total waste.’
According to Dave Bushnell’s social media, Aaron and his younger brother Sean grew up playing instruments in the church and were often pictured in its community events as a child.
Dave wrote in 2017: ‘My boys, Aaron and Sean are members of the percussion ensemble Spirit Winter Percussion, part of the Arts Empowering Life umbrella of arts organizations.
‘Words can not express how grateful Danielle and I are for this group and how much it has meant (and continues to mean) in our boys’ lives. Thank you to everyone who gives their all to make this group so very special! Join with us to make the impossible a reality!
‘How do you teach kids to dream big and be everything they were created to be? Go for the gold!! Hire the best teachers and staff! Aim at perfection and settle for nothing less than your best! Welcome to Spirit WP!
Founded in 1958 by ‘Mother Cay’ and ‘Mother Judy,’ the group used to live communal lives in complete celibacy, but it has reportedly become less extreme in recent years, and now allows members to live off-site.
However, in 2020 a Canadian judge ruled in favor of students of a school that was affiliated with the church, saying it ‘created an abusive, authoritarian and rigid culture.’
One of Bushnell’s friends said he was ‘the kindest, gentlest, silliest little kid in the Air Force,’ according to leftist activist Talia Jane.
‘He’s always trying to think about how we can achieve liberation for all with a smile on his face,’ the friend, who went by Errico, reportedly added. ‘ He is a capital- A anarchist.
Jane said Bushnell is survived by his ‘comrades across the country, including a tight-knit community in San Antonio.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Dave Bushnell for comment on this story.
Horrific video of the incident showed Bushnell explaining the reasons for his ‘extreme act of protest’ while he walked up to the building and screamed ‘Free Palestine- as his body went up in flames.
‘My name is Aaron Bushnell,’ he told the camera, ‘I am 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 compared 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.’
For more than 30 seconds he walked on silently, passing the neighboring Chinese embassy and holding an open flask of liquid in his left hand.
As he reached the embassy, he placed the camera on the ground and marched to the gate, showering himself in the fluid before placing his service cap on his head
The active-duty airman was a DevOps engineer based in San Antonio, Texas, according to his LinkedIn profile. He touted himself having ‘very good communication skills’ and ‘thriving in team environments’.
Bushnell was pursuing his bachelor’s degree in computer software engineering and is CompTIA Security+ certified, a credential that indicates he has the baseline skills to perform core security functions and pursue an IT security career.
He had apparent links to at least two anarchist groups, Burning River Anarchist Collective and Mutual Aid Street Solidarity – both of which are based in Ohio. Bushnell followed the groups on Facebook.
