The White House said it is aware and thinking of the man who died Sunday after lighting himself on fire to protest Israel.
Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old active-duty airman, lit himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in protest of Israel’s actions in its war against Hamas.
“The president is aware,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “It is obviously a horrible tragedy, and our thoughts are with the family of the service member. We can’t imagine this horrible, difficult time.”
Dressed in his military uniform, Bushnell said he did not want to be “complicit in genocide” and he was engaging in an “extreme act of protest.” He then poured liquid on himself and lit himself on fire, shouting “Free Palestine.” He died in the hospital hours later.
Jean-Pierre said the Department of Defense and local police are looking into what happened and she’d refer questions to them, but repeated that Bushnell’s death is a “horrific tragedy.”
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The Biden administration has largely supported Israel’s right to self-defense in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel. The attack, the most deadly in Israel’s history as a country, left roughly 1,200 people dead, the majority of whom were civilians.
In response, Israeli leaders vowed to eliminate Hamas, removing it from power in Gaza and demilitarizing it. The death toll in Gaza as a result of the counterattack topped 29,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
