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Senior Airman Aaron Bushnell, 25, a cyber defense operations
specialist with the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron, died
from injuries sustained in the incident, the Air Force said in a
statement.
"When a tragedy like this occurs, every member of the Air Force
feels it," U.S. Air Force Colonel Celina Noyes said in the
statement. "We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and
friends of Senior Airman Bushnell. Our thoughts and prayers are
with them, and we ask that you respect their privacy during this
difficult time."
Officer Lee Lepe, a spokesperson for the District of Columbia
Metropolitan Police Department, confirmed the death.
The Pentagon said the death was a "tragic event" and that U.S.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was following the situation.
Bushnell was initially hospitalized in critical condition after
U.S. Secret Service officers put out the flames on Sunday, D.C.
Fire and EMS said earlier. Bushnell, wearing military fatigues,
broadcast the incident live over the internet.
"I will no longer be complicit in genocide," the man said before
dousing himself in a clear liquid and setting himself on fire,
screaming "Free Palestine," according to a video seen by
Reuters.
"We express our heartfelt condolences and full solidarity with
the family and friends of the American pilot Aaron Bushnell, who
immortalized his name as a defender of human values and the
plight of the Palestinian people, who are oppressed by the
American administration and its unjust policies," Hamas said in
a post on Telegram Messenger.
The incident comes amid ongoing pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli
protests in the United States following the Oct. 7 attack on
Israel by Hamas that killed 1,200 Israelis and seized 253
hostages in a cross-border attack.
Israeli forces then launched a military campaign against the
Palestinian Islamist group that rules Gaza, destroying much of
the coastal enclave, with nearly 30,000 people confirmed killed,
according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel's embassies have drawn continued protest against the war.
In December, a woman protesting the war set herself on fire
outside the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Susan Heavey, Idrees Ali and Dan
Whitcomb; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Franklin Paul, Andrea
Ricci and Leslie Adler)
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