“I will no longer be complicit in genocide [in Gaza]. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest,” the man apparently said before setting himself alight and repeatedly shouting “Free Palestine!”
Dumbass.
Why be like this?
A rare hero. Not what I expected from the US.
The systems of control didn’t work on him.
Looks like he was an anarchist comrade.
honestly sad, one of the few good troops to realize how fucked the system is and then did the utmost sacrifice in protesting the systemSeems weird that an anarchist was a US soldier. Maybe he joined before he came to the political beliefs he held as he burned, or perhaps he came to these beliefs because of what he saw in the army.
That happens quite a lot when you recruit teenagers with the promise of tech job skills.
It’s a bit of a beleaguered point, but it’s very telling that this will assuredly get almost no coverage on big news networks like abc, cbs, fox, etc. and virtually no coverage in the larger papers like the NYT, sure the press agencies like Reuters and the AP will cover it and then redistributors like your source will publish this, but little thought among the media class/commentariet will be given to the man who decided there was so little hope of being able to do anything through legal/electoral means to stop a genocide that he could no longer stand idley by and had to do something to protest the sheer inhumanity of what’s going on. Barely anyone probably still remembers the person who did the same thing and died in 2022 on earth day protesting inaction on climate change/destruction, that story was absolutely buried. I don’t support like any kind of self harm, but doing something as drastic as this requries a pretty comelling reason, most people remember Tibetan monks doing the same thing, but the same importance was not extended to that person in 2022 and will almost definitely not be extended to this person now.
I got a notification for it from Washington Post. Reuters and nbc has it on the front page.
Few people will remember him, but if any are spurred into action by his act, then it won’t be a completely wasteful loss of life.
Yeah, I’ve seen some discourse that things like this when done by an individual as opposed to a group effort like the Tibetan monks are primarily to take their own life and the message is secondary/additional, but I would like to think that on some level something positive will come out of someone doing something as drastic and sad as this. Dying or taking your own life is not something positive or to be glorified, but when someone feels so hopeless to the point that they turn to this, I hope it’s a least a wake up call for some people to take this seriously and not just ignore one of the biggest genocides in recent history.
I was listening to BBC World Report this morning. They made quick mention of it along with some other things happening in the conflict, then went on to introduce their “expert” who would illuminate the situation.
Their so called expert was an employee of some Israeli institute of security or whatever, and he talked on for ages with minimal push-back about how the israeli army is doing everything by the book and how “Gaza is safe for civilians, and if it’s not it’s the fault of Hamas”.
That was all the coverage they did.
What a fucking joke.
If anyone would like a bit of an overview about the conflict I found Shaun’s Palestine video interesting (and infuriating). I also liked Shattered Dreams of Peace by Frontline informative on the history
(putting it here because the parent is about misinformation and lies)
Yes, my first thought was, “Crikey! Has anyone in the united states self -immolated, before?!”
It’s a horrific way to call attention to a cause. I’m sure after his best possible recovery, his military unit will rally to prosecute to add to his anguish.
This is the first case. We’ve witnessed something that’s never been done before.
The first case of an active duty serviceman self immolating in the US. Alice Herz was the first one in the US, but there have been a dozen or two since then.
From the wikipedia page: Self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell
This event marks the first time that a member of the United States military on active duty has immolated themself.
Right, which I confirmed. The person you replied to asked if it had ever happened in the US before, without specifying the military service. That’s why I clarified that this is not close to the first US self immolation generally (not even the first in response to the same thing), only for active service members.
I’m sure after his best possible recovery
I don’t think he’ll recover. (In fact, apparently it is already being reported that he died. But even if he hasn’t yet he will.) He was taking deep lungfuls of flame and smoke to continue his chant. He’ll have destroyed his lungs. He knew going in that he wouldn’t come out of this alive.
What a brave man.
Winn Bruce last year
@Maeve i
He died. It’s actually not as uncommon as you’d think.Quite a few US Americans in this list of political self immolations.
:-(
but it’s very telling that this will assuredly get almost no coverage on big news networks like abc, cbs, fox, etc.
ABC News - Active-duty airman sets himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy, Air Force confirms
Fox News - US service member sets himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy in DC
and virtually no coverage in the larger papers like the NYT
Don’t confuse people whose whole narrative is build on some conspiracy of media suppression with facts.
I guess skipping the term “Lügenpresse” to avoid the obvious link was deemed enough progress to keep that same 100 years old tactic alive…
They said almost no and virtually no coverege. It’s not anti-semitic to point out that western media is heavily skewed towards Israel. You’re completely delusional if you think that’s not the case.
Obviously there were going to be articles about the man who set himself on fire just as there was for the person who did it in 2022 due to the climate crisis. The point is the attention the media places on WHY it happens that is being ignored or heavily downplayed.
The ABC article felt like satire in how much it avoided context or referencing what was said in the video
you managed so thoroughly to miss the point I was making, I’m impressed
You made an objective point, then a subjective one.
The objective one: “it’s very telling that this will assuredly get almost no coverage on big news networks like abc, cbs, fox, etc.” They addressed the objective one with their links.
The subjective one cannot be addressed yet, as it’s so soon after the event. You will probably end up correct that this event will not visibly persist, but you can’t know for sure, time will tell.
fact check! deboonked!
“There’s no global warming stuuuuupid, lookit all the snow!”
What fucking show? It’s almost March and it has snowed like four times.
that was the joke
I was rolling with you
“gee why did he set himself on fire? must just be something people do”
it’s laughable how US media attributes self-immolation in Tibet to what must be CPC oppression, but self-immolation in the US must just be a cute little coincidence due to poor mental health
They didn’t even share his name, either it is something middle eastern sounding or they just want everyone to forget about him.
Removed by mod
From what I recall on Twitter it’s a white dude, but they didn’t want to share his name.
He’s definitely white from the video but they probably want to scrub his social media history before they release his name.
I saw he was an anarchist? Not much info that I saw but yeah I could see him having a hard time in the military. I was an anarchist when I was younger too.
From lower down in this post, his name is Aaron Bushnell.
There’s already a Wikipedia article about the incident.
I get so tired of this talking point. New York times, Washington Post, and even Fox news each have an article (or multiple) on this event.
OMG THEY HAVE AN ARTICLE OMG THAT WAS TOTALLY MY POINT, I QUITE LITERALLY TALKED ABOUT REDISTRIBUTING THINGS FROM PRESS AGENCIES JFC, HOW CAN YOU READ WHAT I WROTE AND GET TO THIS, IS THERE ANYTHING RESIDING IN BETWEEN YOUR EARS ???
This post smells like mad.
God, an unironic “you mad bro” go back to reddit lmao
most people remember Tibetan monks doing the same thing
Out of political selfimmolations there were 7 Tibetan cases, but dozens of others including many Americans. I wonder why “everyone” remember particularly those. Would it be that US media wasn’t fair to report not only this one here?
It was on a cover of a rage against the machine album.
Lmao that’s what i was talking about, the one on this album cover wasn’t even Tibetan, he was Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese buddhist monk, selfimmolating in Saigon in 1963 as protest against US-backed South Vietnam government persecuting buddhists.
So why people like you think he was Tibetan if not for media misleading you? This was literally the most famous of public selfimmolation and the one that started it all for in XX century.
A person I know wrote a song about Winn Bruce, got lots of play on SoundCloud. He definitely wasn’t forgotten
Honestly, the megacorps will only allow this on main TV when pushing regulation against protesting.
Like, "think of how many innocent
moneyslives we would save if we shoot protesters’.doing something as drastic as this requires a pretty compelling reason
I’ve already had a couple people immediately retort “wow mental health is scary”, then say “nobody will remember his name”.
These people will shamelessly undermine any action then act disappointed that these actions are quickly ignored.
This guy is very brave, but everyone taking about the embassy security drawing weapons when they arrive. Of course they would. They don’t know what was planned, if it was a suicide bombing gone wrong, our whatever else. I’m not pro cop but I don’t understand why people are surprised by this. They are security
Sure, maybe if they drew their weapons immediately, before his act. That’d make sense. They wouldn’t know what he was gonna do.
The trouble is, based on the reporting we have, they drew their guns after he lit himself on fire, not before:
as soon as he was engulfed in flames they started yelling at him to get down on the ground. They even drew their guns on the burning man before someone pushed them to get fire extinguishers to extinguish the fire.
I’m thinking by the time the guy was engulfed in flames he was a little too preoccupied to do much else.
Can you imagine facing a living bonfire, and your first thought is “I should draw my gun and tell them to get down on the ground”? There’s genuinely no excuse for that level of inhumanity.
If your job is to secure the embassy/ site/ scene you work down a list. They clearly followed the list.
We now know that he was no risk, but they couldn’t.
They aren’t equipped with fire extinguishers (aside from the guy who got one), so are you assuming they should jump on him? Smother a fuel fire with their bodies? Does that secure the site? No. It’s also not realistic.
Seems like securing the site then 1 person getting a fire extinguisher is a completely responsible response.
He’d already fallen down and stopped screaming when they drew on him. What threat would he pose that a gun was going to solve at that time? Before you say bomb, think carefully about what a gun was going to do in that circumstance.
No, this was an example (once again) that “try to kill anything you don’t immediately understand” is the default condition of our law enforcement. Last week’s example was an acorn, and a very, very lucky handcuffed man in the back of a police cruiser.
This is not the acorn thing at all. They are trained to secure the embassy and they did that.
Thank you for ignoring everything else I wrote.
I ignored it because it’s irrelevant. You’re applying a subjective value assessment to professionals following training. It’s ugly, but it’s not meant to be “nice” or compassionate. They are there to protect the embassy
I ignored it because it’s irrelevant.
You ignored the context and circumstances because they’re irrelevant?
Your answer to every comment has consistently been (paraphrasing): “trust the cops, they know what they’re doing”, irrespective of any surrounding facts that might suggest otherwise, or any past history that would suggest that law enforcement doesn’t deserve that level of blind trust.
Given that, there’s little point in further discussion.
I just want to know what they were going to prevent with guns, given he was immobilized and not even screaming anymore in addition to being engulfed in flames. You seem to have all the answers, so I’m sure there must be something dangerous he could have done at that point which could have been stopped by a gun - please just tell me what it was.
What, exactly, would a gun do if he was a suicide bomber?
shoot out the fire or scare the guy so much he stops being on fire – only options
Stop him before he got any closer to the embassy. Obviously a gun won’t stop him from commiting suicide, but it could easily be the difference between one person dying and a much larger act of terrorism
There’s a metal fence. What would he even get close to?
Considering the security forces had no idea whether he was working alone or what was happening, they obviously didn’t think they could rely on the metal fence.
Look, I’m all for a free Palestine and I agree that what is happening in Gaza is a genocide. I also think that voluntary membership in any American or Israeli law enforcement makes them complicit in the heinous acts perpetrated by American cops and the IDF, respectively. I don’t know you, but I’d guess that you and I agree a lot more than we disagree on these issues. I’m just saying, from the PoV of the security forces at the Israeli embassy, this was a potential threat to the embassy and their job is literally to prevent threats from harming the embassy. Without any further information to go on, their decision to draw guns first and get the extinguisher second is reasonable.
If he wasn’t alone what would shooting him accomplish? You still haven’t actually presented a compelling reason he needed to be kept under a gun.
I think it’s understandable that people untrained for a situation like this would fall back on the default, I know I wouldn’t know what to do, but calling that “reasonable” as if it really makes sense in hindsight is a stretch.
If he wasn’t alone what would shooting him accomplish? You still haven’t actually presented a compelling reason he needed to be kept under a gun.
Once Bushnell was on fire and had stopped moving toward the gate/fence, you are correct, he didn’t need to be kept under a gun. However, if he had started to move in a threatening way or if he had been working with a larger group, having the guns drawn could have saved crucial seconds if someone else began to act in a threatening way. The security forces simply didn’t know what the fuck was happening, and in that situation, it is better to have the guns drawn and to be ready for the worst case scenario.
I think it’s understandable that people untrained for a situation like this would fall back on the default, I know I wouldn’t know what to do, but calling that “reasonable” as if it really makes sense in hindsight is a stretch.
That’s fair. I can get behind calling it “understandable” instead of “reasonable”
Shoot the suicide bomber before a bigger boom. What if there was another person? Another thing? We can’t know, they can’t know. We know now, due to hindsight.
They are security. They secure scenes. They aren’t paramedics.
I am not making pro cop statements here, but all the comments about “ohhh the cop arrived to a dangerous scene with a weapon drawn!” Is like saying “the garbage man picked up the garbage bin when he drove past my house!” Duh!
He’s on fire! Shooting him wouldn’t stop a bigger boom!
I’ll give the cops this: they probably were not trained on what to do if someone lights themselves on fire. They just fell back on basic training.
It’s murica, they weren’t trained at all.
They did the one thing they were trained to do – Pull first ask
questionsfor fire extinguishers later
Well yeah I’m not surprised that cops are not there to protect average people and provide them safety, they’re there to protect private property.
The embassy security secures the embassy. Whodathunk
Real footage of security cops hard at work:
I see one seeming to be getting medical equipment while one secures the scene. seems very professional.
Did you want to find another screenshot?
I’m not being pro cop here, I’m being anti assuming cops will be helpful buddies when you do things near an embassy. in an era of mass shooters and all sorts of public violence it’s no surprise that agents of the state be state agents
Someone had to yell “fire extinguisher not guns!” for them to even consider doing anything other than raise guns at a burning man.
I’m being anti assuming cops will be helpful buddies when you do things near an embassy.
That is the point I make. Never trust cops. They will rarely ever be helpful.
And as I’ve argued/miscommunicated with folks a few times here: they aren’t expected to be so. They aren’t there to help. They are there to secure the embassy
Secures the embassy from a man caught on fire (very capable!) and is outside its fence. Could you imagine what would’ve happened if they weren’t there? Yeah, still no threat to the embassy :)
You know that now due to hindsight
I’ve created a torrent for the video if anyone wants to help seed. His sacrifice in bringing attention to the US-sponsored genocide in Palestine must not be forgotten.
Noticed that the MSM is barely touching the story or if they are, with little contextual detail. Am I the only one who has noticed this?
No you are not, NPR mysteriously has no idea what motivated this man who was shouting his motivation
I’m all for shitting on lib media, but please verify claims before repeating them. NPR updated their article over 10 hours ago to report on his motivations.
I’m currently sitting behind closed ports and cannot find any peers when I try to torrent it. I’ll try again at home tomorrow
Don’t bother seeding it, it’s a censored version. I don’t know if the person who made the torrent added the blur or not, but it seems pointless to preserve it like this.
Link doesn’t work.
It’s a magnet link. Copy the link address and put it in your torrent client.
I’m not able to connect to it.
Just leave it open, it’ll find peers eventually.
Anyone who still visits reddit, how [deleted] is this story over there?
Edit: I’ve created a torrent for the video if anyone wants to help seed. His sacrifice in bringing attention to the US-sponsored genocide in Palestine must not be forgotten.
Using the word “genocide” bans you in r/politics now
r/washingtondc locked the post
r/politics mods are horrific. In the mod log (at the bottom of the screen) you can see they delete posts just because of different opinions.
So that is what “politically correct” means when we let the far right define it. If it can’t be mentioned, it doesn’t exist.
Wait really? Just using genocide gets you banned in politics? What a bunch of shmeggs. I got banned there years ago because the mods simply went through my post history. I’m still shook with how the narrative and mind of users are tilted towards a very skewed viewpoint.
Some people believe the user base of reddit is diverse, and they’re getting a healthy view of the world. Unbewknowest to them they find themselves dumbfounded when the world isn’t conforming to what they believe is the majority opinion
I can only use one sentence to comment this: when the imposters are sus
What story?
Anyone who still visits reddit, how [deleted] is this story over there?
Very high-vis areas: r/news has a thread that hit 5k comments before it got locked (there’s no pinned comment - I’m guessing they reacted too slowly to justify removing it). It sits around +32k karma. There are several high-level comments providing good historical context in a sympathetic tone. Those comments are recalling the actions of various climate and Vietnam War protestors. r/worldnews is containing the topic to the Israel-Hamas livethread, but it is being mentioned there. r/politics has two posts standing, both at 0 karma.
Very low-vis areas: r/collapse has a weekly discussion thread that has a top-level comment on it showing strong sympathy, and likewise in the responses. It has +118 karma which would generally put it in the top 10 of the weekly top-level comments, even though it has only been posted for about 8 hours. (These threads average about 650 total comments [i.e., all response levels].) So it’s pretty hot, relatively speaking. The sub mods are transparent and it appears from the logs that the chain/topic has zero moderation activity on it so far. The admins keep a close eye on the sub but maybe not that thread.
Thank you for creating the torrent.
A screenshot someone posted to r/TheDeprogram
To be fair, that post in particular seems to have been locked because it is a repost. This post is older and has quite a bit of engagement. While a quick search in the popular subs reveals that this story seems to be surpressed there, it is not true for r/TheDeprogram. Even if that sub has some problems, this story is none of them.
That post is locked because it’s on r/pics. r/TheDeprogram is an ML sub, the screenshot I posted was someone calling out r/pics.
Oh, I misunderstood. I thougth that the pic was from the deprogram sub. Thats why I went there and looked it up, because it would be very surprising to see that su censoring something like this.
Edit: It even says r/pics on the top of the screenshot, either I’m blind or I already forgot the layout of stormfront (or both)
The new Burning Man.
Hey Google, remember the very first “doodle” you had on your homepage that had the Burning Man? Please bring it back.
God damn, this is brutal. I watched it and it gave me absolute chills. The world won’t forget this man’s bravery and sacrifice, even if the media doesn’t cover it.
Oh the country will forget. By Friday there will be something else.
There’s going to be some big presidential debate drama. Bidens going to forget to wear socks or Trumps going to go tanning again… The important stuff.
I’m waiting with baited breath
Wanna bet?
We won’t forget.
It’s nowhere in the news cycles here in Europe. Sadly, maybe we won’t forget but the world is already neglecting it. I wish he hadn’t done it, we’ve seen enough death already.
This is the 2nd one. The only reason we’re even hearing about this is because he had to foresight to live stream it and also an independent journalist was there with a camera
I had to go looking. Wasn’t DC, was Atlanta. December 1.
Maybe this is why I’m not seeing it, it was a few months ago.
Edit: The link says this was in DC recently though.
“A US Air Force soldier is in critical condition after he set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, Sunday.”
I was investigating the “second time” comment. Yes, the most recent event was in DC. The first event was in Atlanta.
He’s died now.
The pigs shouting “ON THE GROUND” to a person who is actively burning to death have got to be the finest example of cop brain. Everything’s a threat.
I kind of wish this troop would have done something like sabotage or leaked Intel like Chelsea Manning, but I’m also not gonna deny the bravery involved. Free Palestine. Death to America.
Death to America.
Winning hearts and minds!
Americans don’t deserve death any more than Palestinians; people are people all over. Liberation for everyone.
It’s sloppy rhetoric if this is what he means but he said America not Americans. A lot of people feel ‘America’ - as it currently exists - could do to die a ‘death’.
Aiming his gun at disintegrated body.
You need to work on your rhetorical skills.
RIP to the one good troop.
Free Palestinians from Hamas
🤡
Free yourself from propaganda
I’m free. That’s why I am able to see that Hamas are terrorists.
claims to be a free thinker
Parrots the most common opinion in western society
claims others are brainwashed instead
Interesting
Hamas is not Palestine as Israel is not all Jews.
Hamas is a cancer that must go for peace to have a chance
Y’all say shit like this but when I say Israel is a cancer that must go for peace to have a chance y’all get mad.
because saying it like that is not saying the current Israel government must go, you are implying the state of Israel must go.
that’s genocide
That’s definitely not what genocide means. Destroying the Israeli group is genocide. Destroying the Israeli state is not.
The only people fighting to defend Palestinians from their imminent ethnic cleansing are a “cancer”, but the same is not said for the occupying nation committing the cleansing.
Interesting!
hamas are NOT defending the palestinian people
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Hamas and Israel are two sides of the same coin. Hamas knew exactly what the demented Israeli government would do, and they knew it would bring sympathy to their cause. Israel walked into the trap because they are also consumed with ethnic hatred. There is plenty of evidence that Israel even supported Hamas just to get them an excuse for a genocide.
The Netanyahu government, yes.
Unfortunately, it’s not just the government. There are mobs preventing aid from getting in, and almost half the country supports what’s happening in Gaza.
True. And it’s also true that some Palestinians are allied with the Hamas terrorists. Also unfortunate. The victims are Israeli and Palestinian civilians.
Sigma balls light himself on fire, beta feel threatened at the realization of their cowardice and powerlessness.
The uncensored video is here as well: https://theworldwatch.com/videos/1616102/shock-us-air-force-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-to-protest-israeli-palestine-war/
That comments section is such a dumpster fire of what I hope are bots and not actual human beings… Because damn, otherwise, Giant Meteor 2024
Ugh, I hadn’t even noticed the comments until you mentioned it. I avoid the comments sections on most “news” sites because they’re almost universally dumpster fires if they’re not properly moderated.
Edit: although Giant Meteor 2024 definitely sounds like a winning ticket.
I too support the initiatives of Giant Meteor, Comet and Asteroid LLC, and wish them a strikingly good year.
They are angry sounding. I wish there was giant meteor.
The comments on the video are actually more horrifying than the video itself. How can a human watch another human suffer like this and be happy/laugh about it? They’re wishing that others would do the same just because they think differently from them? Do we even have any hope left in humanity anymore?
No. No, we dont.
Holy shit you weren’t kidding. Those comments are horrifying.
Those are the people making America great again!
There are many people that consider themselves left-wing that excuse their government support of genocide. I have no idea how…
Unfortunately no 😔
Israelis blocking aid trucks to Gaza at the Karm Abu Salem crossing, hold a dance party as millions of Palestinians face death, starvation and disease due to lack of food, clean water, and medical supplies and Israel’s relentless military bombardment.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240214-israelis-dance-while-blocking-aid-trucks-to-gaza/
there’s a video
I try not to let myself get affected by crazy anonymous comments on the internet. I definitely avoid thinking that they’re any kind of majority. I figure that those comments come from a minority of people who are either really messed up, have an ulterior motive, or whatever variety of atypical motivation. If nothing else, it’s better for my mental health to think this way.
I’m gonna need to do it your way for sure. Sounds much healthier
Removed by mod
I wish Israel was actually killing those terrorists you’re speaking of. More than 60% of those are children. They haven’t killed that many Hamas members. This is ethnic cleansing. It’s a genocide. I don’t know why the mod removed this comment. Let people speak their minds so we know who’s an actual human being and who isn’t.
He cares for innocent people that are getting killed in this war. You don’t need love for compassion, just basic human decency.
By being a sane human being for instance. Try empathy.
