Air Force engineer Aaron Bushnell, who self-immolated outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. on Sunday and died hours later, was a 25-year-old IT engineer-in-training from a small town in Massachusetts.
Bushnell livestreamed her gruesome final moments. The footage showed him calmly walking outside the embassy gates to his final destination, before dousing himself in flammable liquid, igniting it, and bursting into flames.
A sharp-eyed military man in camouflage uniform said in the video: “I will no longer participate in genocide.” [in Gaza].
“I’m about to do a radical protest,” he added, before repeatedly shouting “Liberate Palestine!” as fire engulfed him and he eventually collapsed.
Here’s what we know about Bushnell.
An up-and-coming IT engineer with big plans for the future
The aviator completed basic training in May 2020 and “graduated to the top of his class as an aviator.” According to his LinkedIn profilesaid Monday that it will be “commemorated as a tribute to Aaron Bushnell’s professional legacy.”
He was eventually stationed in San Antonio, Texas, across the country from his family’s hometown of Orleans on Cape Cod.
At the time of his death, Bushnell was working as a DevOps (software development and operations) engineer, likely acting as an intermediary between the two fields, according to his resume.
He also received cybersecurity training.
“Throughout my time in the military in both leadership and followership roles, as well as previous work experience in a variety of civilian roles, I have thrived in team environments and have acquired very good communication skills.” wrote Bushnell, who was promoted to deputy secretary. His last job will be in March 2023.
“I am valued by senior leaders for my ability to explain complex technical issues. I bring many of these soft skills to bear in any role.”
He described himself as an “aspiring software engineer” and said he was “currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in software engineering at Western Governors University,” although the page also states that he actually attends Southern New Hampshire University. It was dark.
“We are deeply saddened by the news of Aaron’s passing, and the SNHU community extends its deepest sympathies to Aaron’s family and friends.” The school said in a statement: on Monday to ABC.
Aaron Bushnell said on LinkedIn that he plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in software engineering in May 2025.
The Air Force remained mum on Monday about Bushnell and his death, only confirming that an active-duty service member was killed in the disturbing incident.
“This is certainly a tragic event,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters Monday, adding that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was “monitoring the situation.”
“We certainly extend our condolences to the aviator’s family,” Ryder said.
A religious family with roots in a quaint Cape Cod town.
The Bushnells seem to be a religious family and are quite famous in their hometown of Orleans.
Dad David, 57 years old; supervise construction For construction companies — Share the link on your Facebook page Go to sites such as Transfiguration Church and the community of Jesus — and his mother, Danielle, 57, is also employed as a “purchaser and contract manager” for Paraclete Press, a Christian book and music publisher.
Daniel’s Online company biography “Her other passions include teaching American history and government to homeschoolers, playing the bass clarinet, and caring for her dog Jasper and cat Lilac.”
The company declined to comment to the Post on Monday.
When Aaron Bushnell was young, he attended local schools.
“We are heartbroken to learn of the untimely death of one of our former students, Aaron Bushnell,” Nauset Public Schools said Monday.
“Mr. Bushnell was a student at Nauset Public Schools from 2003-2007 and 2013-2014,” the district said. told WBZ-TV In a statement. “Our school community is saddened by Mr. Bushnell’s death and extends our condolences to his family and friends.”
As a teenager, Aaron Bushnell worked in IT and web development at Paraclete for two years.
He and his brother Sean, 22, played in a drum ensemble called Spirit Winter Percussion when they were younger.
“Spirit WP is the best!” their proud father wrote in a 2017 Facebook post. “Words cannot express how grateful Daniel and I are to this group and how much it has meant (and continues to mean) to our boys’ lives.”
anarchist tendencies
Aaron likes two Ohio-based anarchist groups, Burning River Anarchist Collective and Mutual Aid Street Solidarity, on their Facebook pages.
He also gave a thumbs up to an account belonging to the Kent State University chapter of the radical Palestinian pro-Hamas group Students for Justice.
Late December, Burning River promoted two books Its Facebook page also includes an article titled “Nutritional Resistance.”
On October 17, 10 days after the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas launched a massacre in Israel and sparked the Gaza War, the anarchist organization There is also a link to the interview. A paper titled “Voices from the Front Lines Against the Occupation: Interviews with Palestinian Anarchists” by the Black Rose Anarchist Federation.
The newspaper spoke to Fauda, a “small group based in the West Bank that identifies itself as a Palestinian anarchist organization,” to get their views on the current struggle.
“We hope this interview will create further connections between American revolutionaries and militant Palestinian youth, and be a step towards further deepening their knowledge and understanding of each other,” Black Rose said in a statement. .
In conversation, a Fauda member interviewed said:
“Another thing I want you to know is that the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas do not represent our Palestinian people at all. I refuse everyone.”
Burning River declined to comment to the Post on Monday, saying in an email that “no one knew” Aaron Bushnell.
aviator’s last hours
Two hours before he self-immolated himself around 1pm on Sunday, Aaron Bushnell posted a now eerie final message on Facebook.
“Many of us like to ask ourselves, ‘What would I do if I lived in a time of slavery?’ Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? If my country was committing genocide, what would I do? What would you do?” The answer is, you are doing it. Right now,” he wrote.
The message included a link to a Twitch livestream, which he would soon use to broadcast his opposition to the Gaza war and his horrific fate to the world.
“Hello, my name is Aaron Bushnell. I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force. I will no longer participate in genocide,” a young man says as he walks along in the video. On Sunday afternoon, he leaves the embassy for his final destination.
“I’m trying to participate in radical protests, but it’s not radical at all compared to what people are going through in Palestine at the hands of the colonizers.
“This is what our ruling class has decided, and it is normal.”
In front of the embassy gates, he used a thermos flask to douse himself with flammable liquid and apparently tried to set his uniform on fire, but apparently failed, instead setting the liquid pooling at his feet on fire and causing a blaze.
“Liberate Palestine!” the airman repeatedly shouted, waving his arms, and remained standing for an astonishing 45 seconds before collapsing to the ground, his clothes on fire and his body scorched.
He was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died Sunday night, authorities and Air Force officials said.
Two people claimed to be friends of Bushnell told independent journalist Talia Jane: Who posted the words to X on Monday.
“He is one of the most principled comrades I have ever known,” said a person called Xylem. He appears to have worked with Bushnell to help San Antonio’s unhoused residents.
Another friend named Jericho, who said he met Bushnell in 2022, added, “Aaron is the kindest, gentlest, stupidest kid in the Air Force.”
“He’s always trying to figure out how we can actually smile and achieve liberation for all people.”
what’s next
The Air Force told the Post on Monday that it would release more information about the service member by Tuesday, after a 24-hour period that includes notifying families.
Pentagon spokesman Ryder declined to comment Monday on Aaron Bushnell’s possible ties to extremist groups.
