Washington – The US Air Force official Aaron Bushnell who set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, died from his injuries on Monday. A US official who was close to the investigation in the case confirmed Bushnell's death to NBC News. The official also stated that the next of kin was notified of the matter on Monday and will and the official told the outlet that the official statement on the matter will be released within 24 hours. A harrowing video live-streamed on Twitch on Sunday afternoon showed the serviceman dressed in a uniform and setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy. 

“I will no longer be complicit in genocide [in Gaza]. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest,” Bushnell reportedly said, before setting himself ablaze and repeatedly chanting “Free Palestine”. Just hours before the tragic incident, Bushell posted his final message on Facebook. “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,” he wrote According to The New York Post, Bushell's post also included a link to the Twitch live stream which was later removed for violating the platform’s community guidelines.

Bushnell served four years in the US Air Force

According to Bushnell's LinkedIn profile, the airman served with the US Air Force for nearly four years and was based in San Antonio, Texas. Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry made it clear that no embassy staff were injured during the fire incident. “An unknown person set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy building in Washington and is being taken to the hospital, no embassy staff were injured,” the Ministry said in the statement. Even after the identity of the US Air Force official was released, the ministry noted that Bushnell was not known to the embassy before the incident. The Metropolitan DC Police, the US Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the deadly incident.