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‘How sick’: Leftists burn Israeli flags outside embassy in DC, publicly praise USAF airman who set himself ablaze

February 27, 2024 | | Print Article

Protesters held a vigil for USAF engineer Aaron Bushnell outside the DC embassy, setting Israeli flags on fire while blaming the Secret Service for his death.

The suicidal act of protest made national headlines as the image of Bushnell, 25, burning went viral. Leftists called him a martyr after he lit himself on fire, screaming “Free Palestine!” on Sunday. He livestreamed his own death on Twitch according to the Daily Mail.

Hundreds of protesters gathered Monday night for the vigil outside the Israeli Embassy, protesting the Israel-Hamas war and calling for a ceasefire.

Festivities included setting Israeli flags on fire and waving posters that were emblazoned with Bushnell’s last words. Other signs being brandished declared that “Israel bombs babies” and that Bushnell was “killed in protest of Israel’s brutality.” Notes, flowers, and lit candles were left in remembrance of the active duty airman.

It appeared in the video where Bushnell set himself ablaze that no one really believed he would do it. The Secret Service and DC Metro Police Officers, who were standing outside the embassy came running once they realized that he had followed through on his perceived threat.

They screamed for fire extinguishers and an ambulance but it was too late. Instead of recognizing that the officers were doing their jobs, leftists fixated on the fact that one pulled a gun and aimed it at the burning man.

One pro-Palestinian protester yelled at the Secret Service agent guarding the Israeli Embassy, “You killed that man!”

Leftist presidential candidates such as Jill Stein and Cornel West expressed open admiration for the mentally disturbed airman.

“Rest in power Aaron Bushnell. May his sacrifice deepen our commitment to stop genocide now,” Stein wrote on X.

“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!” West wrote.

To which conservative pundit Megyn Kelly simply responded, “My God. How sick.”

Other leftists made the point that Bushnell was “sane,” all evidence to the contrary.

A professor of public affairs at Syracuse University named Farhana Sultana stated, “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,” according to the Daily Mail.

“They still try to spin doctor it as mental health issues, but he was rational & clear about his political reasoning, which resonates with the 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,” she continued.

The Daily Mail also reported that Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King voiced his solidarity with Bushnell, “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.”

Bushnell was connected to at least two anarchist groups, Burning River Anarchist Collective and Mutual Aid Street Solidarity, according to the Daily Mail. Both are based in Ohio. He also supported the Kent State University chapter of the radical pro-Hamas group Students for Justice in Palestine.

He was an IT engineer-in-training who came from a tiny Massachusetts town and a religious home according to the New York Post.

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