Aaron Bushnell's Self-Immolation Protest

Content Warning: Portions of this entry make mention of suicide, which some may find difficult or upsetting. If you need support or are dealing with suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's website or call 1-800-273-8255.

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).

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).

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).

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).

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).

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]}

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.

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.

Search Interest

External References