Compassion in the face of violence is difficult. In America, where police brutality and violent punishment are deeply ingrained within the justice system, it may seem almost impossible. Violence and other punitive measures have been the norm in responding to social issues like poverty, mental illness, and civil disobedience. And in the era of the internet, as political violence rises across the country, it has become increasingly normal to see it firsthand. However, on Sunday, February 25, Aaron Bushnell proved that a compassionate response is still possible as he stood up against the ongoing genocide in Palestine, not with violence but with self sacrifice.
Over the weekend, Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire outside of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. in protest of the war in Palestine and the United States’ ongoing support of Israel in the form of economic aid, arms, and military consulting. “I will no longer be complicit in genocide,” Bushnell stated. “I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people are experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all.” Although he draws a comparison between the extremity of his protest and that of the violence in Palestine, it is important to note that his protest was not violent. Rather, he inflicted pain upon himself in solidarity with the people in Palestine — selflessly using his own suffering to call attention to theirs. Bushnell was engulfed in flames for nearly two minutes before the fire was put out and he was taken to the hospital to be treated. He succumbed to his injuries a few hours later.
Video footage of the self-immolation shows Bushnell setting himself on fire as he repeatedly shouts “Free Palestine.” Even in the censored version of the video, which has been widely circulated online, you can hear Bushnell’s haunting screams as he burns alive. Yet, during his prior remarks, his tone remains measured. It is clear that he knew what he was doing and why he was doing it. The video is a harsh reminder of the moment we are in — one where pain and suffering have become normal — as nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since Hamas’ attack on October 7. The echoes of Bushnell’s screams must remind us that this violence is not normal.
As flames envelop Bushnell, the video depicts first responders’ concerningly chaotic and aggressive response. Someone repeatedly yells for him to get “on the ground.” An agent can be seen running on screen with a fire extinguisher while another Secret Service officer points his gun at Bushnell, who is still lying on the ground burning. Off-screen, a frustrated officer can be heard saying, “I don’t need guns. I need fire extinguishers.”
A spokesperson for the Secret Service said later in a statement that the officer was trying to protect the agents who were trying to douse the flames. Their gratuitous response was not a departure from the norm. Police have often responded to nonviolent protests in America with violence. The fact that law enforcement would respond this way to a protestor who threatened only himself is just a further indictment of their brutality.
This violence is a transnational phenomenon — American law enforcement groups have traveled to Israel numerous times to participate in counter-terrorism training. Numerous human rights organizations have found the links between tactics used by American police and those Israeli forces use on Palestinians. Knowing this, the image of an officer pointing a gun at a dying man does not feel so far removed from the very genocide that Bushnell was protesting. This act of protest will no doubt become an important moment in the global movement for nonviolence.
Bushnell is part of a long history of peace activists who have engaged in self-immolation to protest war, genocide, and religious persecution. Perhaps most famously, in 1963 Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire in Saigon in protest of Buddhist persecution during the Vietnam war. Pictures of his protest spread quickly, and he became a symbol of anti-war resistance seen around the world. This action brought international attention to the conflict during a period where the brutality of the Vietnam War was not being accurately reported by Western media.
The legacy of Buddhist monks engaging in self-immolation raises the question: What atrocities could be so dire that those who have committed themselves to peace and liberation would engage in such a shocking act? The use of skin-incinerating white phosphorus by the IDF in the ongoing war in Palestine points toward a clear answer.
Aaron Bushnell was not unlike his predecessors in his commitment to justice. Errico, a friend of his, said, “He’s always trying to think about how we can actually achieve liberation for all with a smile on his face.” Bushnell’s work toward liberation extends past Palestine: A friend he worked with supporting the unhoused community in San Antonio said that he was “one of the most principled comrades I have ever known.” His commitment to the struggle of those in Gaza reveals that Bushnell was not engaging in an act of violence but rather a painful, radical act of compassion.
It was an act of compassion, critics of self-immolation argue, that was too radical. Yet, it is their characterization of violence that allows the evils of genocide by Israel and America’s police brutality to prevail. Bushnell’s act caused him pain, but he did not inflict violence on anyone. As they watched him die, however, the responding officers’ first choice was to order him to get on the ground and to point a gun.
We cannot allow state-sanctioned violence around the world to desensitize us to pain. Pain is not violence. Military and police violence against innocent civilians must be our sign to pay close attention to the harm caused by these institutions. This painful, sacrificial protest must be our sign to remember compassion, to invest in our communities, and to uphold our values as we organize for justice.
In his final words, Aaron Bushnell stated, “This is what our ruling class has deemed normal.” In his memory, we must continue fighting to free Palestine, and we must continue fighting for a world in which this violence is not normal.
