Aaron Bushnell is the San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Air Force member who started himself on fire on February 25 outside the Washington D.C. Israeli embassy, in a scene captured on video.
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 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. Before that, he only has a few old posts on his Facebook page.
Facebook (Aaron Bushnell)Aaron Bushnell Facebook post.
Bushell has since died from his wounds, according to CBS News, which identified him via the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. He was 25 years old.
Here’s what you need to know:
Aaron Bushnell Shouts ‘Free Palestine’ as He Sets Himself on Fire in the Video
The more than 3-minute long video shows Bushell 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 he bends over.
“Can I help you sir?” someone says.
“Free Palestine” he shouts, as the fire suddenly rages, consuming him. Screams erupt, 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.
Aaron Bushnell Worked as an Engineer for the U.S. Air Force on Software Development
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 had a bachelor’s degree from Southern New Hampshire University in computer software engineering, graduating 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 typical 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 with one 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.
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