ANALYSIS – The hysterical rhetoric of the radical left accusing Israel of “genocide” as it conducts an aggressive but necessary war to destroy Hamas has claimed its first American victim.
Active-duty airman Aaron Bushnell, 25, walked up to the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. on Sunday in his fatigues utility uniform and began live video streaming on Twitch before dousing himself with fuel and lighting himself up.
The native of San Antonio, Texas said during his video that he “will no longer be complicit in genocide” and he was heard shouting “Free Palestine” as the flames engulfed him.
This, in apparent protest of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
A uniformed Secret Service officer quickly extinguished the flames, while a plain clothes agent aimed his pistol in case the man was a danger to others.
A Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement that officers of its uniformed division responded to what appeared as “an individual that was experiencing a possible medical / mental health emergency.”
The man was taken to hospital with critical injuries, where he was later pronounced dead.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli embassy said no staff members were injured in the incident.
According to The Mirror:
The video [of the victim/subject] was later removed from the platform, but law enforcement officials have obtained and reviewed a copy. In a statement, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington said its officers had responded to the scene outside the Israeli Embassy to assist U.S. Secret Service officers and that its bomb squad had also been called to examine a suspicious vehicle. Police said no hazardous materials were found in the vehicle.
Bushnell reportedly emailed media before his self-immolation. “Today, I am planning to engage in an extreme act of protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people,” he warned.
Time reported:
On Facebook Sunday morning, he also wrote: “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.” The post included a link to a live-stream of his protest on the web-broadcasting platform Twitch, which took down the video for violations of its community guidelines and terms of service.
“I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I'm about to engage in an extreme act of protest,” the airman repeated, in footage reviewed by TIME, as he walked toward the driveway of the Israeli embassy. “But compared 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.”
Why would Bushnell commit suicide in such a public manner? Was it really about Israel, or was that just a trigger and an excuse to be a hero for a mentally-ill young man?
I can only speculate right now, and new evidence may shed further light on this horrible act. But I believe several factors were at play.
At the top of the list is the hysterical and extreme left-wing rhetoric that blames America for all the world's woes and is now laser-focused on demonizing Israel and America's support of our Jewish ally.
Secondly is the pervasive and unhealthy social media culture which allows everyone their 15 minutes of fame online.
And finally, we can point to the growing mental health crisis in America, especially among our youth. Generation Z, in particular, is shown to be the least happy and most prone to mental issues.
This is greatly due to the godless, nihilistic left-wing ideology pervading our culture, and the atomizing, isolating and just plain unhealthy social media-subsumed society they are immersed in.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
READ NEXT: Trump Defies Judge In Major Move
