Texas Air Force Member Who Set Himself on Fire Made ‘Haunting’ Final Facebook Post

Aaron Bushnell is the San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Air Force airman who set himself on fire on February 25 outside the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C. and later died from his injuries.

You can watch a blurred-out version of the video below, but be aware that it is extremely disturbing.

According to the New York Post, Bushnell, 25, shared the Twitch video in a final Facebook post. He also left a last message with it, The Post reported, describing it as “haunting.”

The Facebook post is still up and was reviewed and screenshotted by Heavy. The Twitch channel it linked to has been disabled for violations.

“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. His Facebook page shows he hadn’t posted since April 2018.

Facebook (Aaron Bushnell)Aaron Bushnell Facebook post.

Bushell died from his wounds hours after self-immolating around 1 p.m. Eastern time, according to CBS News, which identified him via the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.

Here’s what you need to know:

Aaron Bushnell Shouts ‘Free Palestine’ as He Sets Himself on Fire in the Video

The video, which is more than three minutes long, shows Bushnell walking down Embassy Row dressed in full military uniform.

“I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force. And I will no longer be complicit in genocide,” he says in the video.

“I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But at the hands of what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all,” he said. “This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”

He continues to walk down the sidewalk.

Bushnell is then quiet as he walks, holding what appears to be a water bottle. He walks up to a gate. He then pours a liquid on himself and puts his hat on. “Free Palestine,” he shouts.

Someone says, “Can I help you,’ as Bushnell bends over.

“Can I help you, sir?” someone says.

“Free Palestine,” he shouts as flames consume him. Bystanders are heard screaming and an officer is heard shouting, “Get on the ground.”

“Who’s got a fire extinguisher? I need fire extinguishers,” people say in the background.

According to CBS News, the Bushnell video originally was posted on Twitch. CNN reported that Bushnell was taken to a hospital, where he died.

The network confirmed that Bushnell was an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force.

According to the BBC, Bushnell emailed reporters and “left-wing and anarchist news websites” before he died. BBC received a copy from The Atlanta Community Press Collective.

“Today, I am planning to engage in an extreme act of protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people,” the email read, according to BBC, and it told the recipients it would be “highly disturbing”.

Aaron Bushnell Worked as a Software Development Engineer for the U.S. Air Force

LinkedInAaron Bushnell.

On Linkedin, Bushnell described himself as “Aspiring software engineer with educational and work experience in software development and Linux system administration, looking for SkillBridge programs to transition out of the US Air Force into software engineering.”

He wrote that he was a “DevOps engineer” in the U.S. Air Force full-time for more than three years, based in San Antonio. He was previously involved in “IT infrastructure monitoring and oversight,” the page says, and Bushnell underwent “basic and technical training” in 2020.

“Graduated top of flight and top of class. Trained as a Client Systems Technician. Gained hands-on experience in troubleshooting, building, and repairing computer information systems. Trained in cyber security. Gained CompTIA Security+ certification,” he wrote.

Before that, he worked in IT and web development for Paraclete Press in Brewster, Massachusetts, according to his LinkedIn page.

The LinkedIn page says he was working toward a bachelor’s degree from Southern New Hampshire University in computer software engineering, with an anticipated graduation in 2025, and he said he attended the University of Maryland Global Campus for computer science in 2023.

On Facebook, his father, Dave Bushnell, shared family photos. “My boys, Aaron and Sean are members of the percussion ensemble Spirit Winter Percussion, part of the Arts Empowering Life umbrella of arts organizations. Spirit WP is over the top awesome! 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,” he wrote in 2017. “Join with us to make the impossible a reality!” Online records show the family has ties to Massachusetts.

According to his Facebook page, Dave Bushnell is a builder. He shared links to religious groups including the Church of the Transformation.

A friend told The New York Post, “His actual job involves the processing of intelligence data. Some of what he was processing had to do with the Israeli Gaza conflict. One of the things he told me is that coming across his desk … was the US military was involved in the genocides going on in Palestine.”

The Post quoted the friend as saying, “He told me that we had troops on the ground, you know, that were there and were killing large numbers of Palestinians.”

Aaron Bushnell Grew Up in a Religious Compound, Reports Say

According to New York Magazine, Aaron Bushnell “grew up in a religious group on Cape Cod called the Community of Jesus.”

The Washington Post reported that Bushnell grew up in a “religious compound” affiliated with that religious group.

In San Antonio, where he was in the Air Force, Bushnell attended a socialist group’s events and gave food out on the street, The Washington Post reported, adding that he started objecting to the military after the death of George Floyd.

He texted a friend, according to the Post, “I hope you’ll understand. I love you. This doesn’t even make sense, but I feel like I’m going to miss you.” He described himself as an anarchist to the friend, according to The Washington Post.

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