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Aaron Bushnell's Facebook Reveals Final Message Before Self-Immolation (www.newsweek.com)

submitted 6 months ago by TokenBoomer@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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Newsweek.com

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[-] SirSamuel@lemmy.world 138 points 6 months ago

First off, that website is an ad dumpster fire. UBlock is a requirement.

Second, here's the write from the article referencing his Facebook post:

He wrote: "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."

[-] itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 65 points 6 months ago

The video shows one officer pointing a gun at Bushnell, while others extinguished the flames. The MPD spokesperson did not confirm if that officer worked for the police department, but said the matter is under investigation.

Okay wtf is that supposed to mean? Who else should the pig be working for?

[-] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 80 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I don't know why they say suicide is illegal in the US, all you have to do is call the cops and they'll send someone to help finish the job.

[-] RamblingPanda@lemmynsfw.com 22 points 6 months ago

They don't want to let a perfectly good practicing target go to waste.

[-] Bbbbbbbbbbb@lemmy.world 34 points 6 months ago

Gotta wait for a man to turn black before you shoot him without cause

[-] BilboBargains@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

oof, nice catch

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[-] thefartographer@lemm.ee 7 points 6 months ago

Then it's extra-legal!

[-] CluelessLemmyng@lemmy.sdf.org 25 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

There are dozens of police agencies in just a couple blocks of that area. And they can all dress similarly. MPD is for the entire district, but each government agency can have their own police.

https://publicsafety.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_law_enforcement_agencies_in_the_District_of_Columbia

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe 4 points 6 months ago

(don't pay any attention to the similarities to the Roman Empire and its multitude of "security" organizations)

[-] masterspace@lemmy.ca 9 points 6 months ago

Not defending the practice, but at least in North America, it's relatively common for cops to get hired to work security by private companies. It's usually called Paid Duty and those are the cops you see who seem to be working security guard like details at retail shops and sports games etc. They are still technically working for the police department in that situation though I believe.

[-] livus@kbin.social 14 points 6 months ago

@masterspace yikes that sounds like all kinds of conflict of interest.

It also sounds like an extreme form of policing for the rich only.

[-] masterspace@lemmy.ca 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Yup, that's why I wanted to make it very clear that I was not defending the practice. Seems inherently ripe for abuse. It often seems like it allows rich people to pretend like crime isn't an issue in their isolated bubbles rather than be forced to address it on a societal scale.

Though at the same time, if people are going to throw a massive event, you often do need to have extra police at least on standby, and I can see the logic of saying "well then that event organizer should be the one paying for it, rather than the general taxpayer"... that's still pretty radically different from a random Gucci store hiring a cop to patrol their bags with a gun though, and I don't even know if those two types of things would even fall under the same programs.

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[-] 520@kbin.social 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Could be feds, or another branch of LE

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[-] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 40 points 6 months ago

How do we convince conservatives that self-immolation is their ticket to heaven?

[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 17 points 6 months ago

Apparently, vaccine mandates.

[-] snownyte@kbin.social 12 points 6 months ago

By telling them heaven is controlled by white, pure-blooded christians that are free from the worries of black people and transgenders.

[-] blazeknave@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

They already have a death wish

[-] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

Even scarier than that, they desperately want to meet god but know that they can't do it by their own hand, so they're now looking to install a leader that they know is the antichrist because he will bring about the end of the world (Trump so desperately wants to use a nuke it's got everyone on edge).

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[-] DickFiasco@lemm.ee 39 points 6 months ago

The video shows one officer pointing a gun at Bushnell

Sounds about right.

[-] evatronic@lemm.ee 20 points 6 months ago

Hey! Stop dying or I'll shoot!

[-] Zozano@lemy.lol 31 points 6 months ago

Screenshot_20240227-082012_DuckDuckGo

[-] Land_Strider@lemmy.world 12 points 6 months ago

Off topic, but In Bruges is a great film.

[-] Zozano@lemy.lol 9 points 6 months ago

If you are reading this, and haven't seen "In Bruges", do yourself a favour.

[-] Zozano@lemy.lol 6 points 6 months ago

YOU'RE AN INANIMATE FUCKING OBJECT!!

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[-] TIMMAY@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago

I thought the name wouldnt be released until 24 hours after the final notice was delivered to his kin?

[-] winky9827b@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

The guy streamed a video to his Facebook. Want hard for journalists to track down.

[-] TIMMAY@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

Well I don't think it's a resource or methodology issue, rather more of a glaring ethical one.

[-] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 4 points 6 months ago

The dead person themselves wanted their death to be reported. It feels like worse ethics to deny them their voice in their final act.

But anyway, I saw posts yesterday with the video that had received consent from the family to release it as long as his death itself was blurred. They may not understand his act, but they believe he deserves to be seen.

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[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 10 points 6 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A man who set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. in protest at Israel's war in Gaza posted a final message on Facebook.

Aaron Bushnell, an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force, repeatedly yelled "free Palestine" as he set himself alight in what he called an "extreme" act of protest on Sunday.

The footage shows him walk up the driveway of the embassy, set his phone down on the ground and pour an unknown liquid from a bottle over himself and ignite it while yelling "Free Palestine" repeatedly.

The department is working with the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate the incident, the spokesperson added.

A LinkedIn account apparently belonging to Bushnell describes him as an "aspiring software engineer" with "a talent and passion for solving complex problems with code."

Bushnell's protest comes as Israel's war on Hamas has killed about 30,000 Palestinians, The Associated Press reported, citing the Health Ministry in Gaza.

The original article contains 556 words, the summary contains 165 words. Saved 70%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[-] JayBird76@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

I don't want to sound cynical, but I really struggle with understanding what someone thinks they'll actually accomplish setting themselves on fire. I it would be the most horrific way to die let alone doing it to yourself.

[-] deft@lemmy.wtf 34 points 6 months ago

You're Joe Biden. You need to win an election.

A US soldier just lit himself on fire about controversy that you know voters do not like about you. The situation clearly is developing for the worse for you.

You don't think they care? You should read up on Johnson's feelings about protestors mocking his killing of America's youth in Vietnam. He did not like it. I feel Biden is sensing much of the same.

[-] aStonedSanta@lemm.ee 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Yeah. Understand the power now rereading your sentence? It’s horrifying to think someone would do that by choice because society is so evil.

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this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2024

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