Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin addressed Wednesday the widely reported self-immolation of a senior airman outside the Israeli Embassy.
Speaking at the Brookings Institute think tank in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Allvin said Senior Airman Aaron Bushnell, 25, was “just one of our airmen that we lost” to “suicide.”
“We have about 100 or so suicides per year, and every year we try to get after, how do we reduce this?” asked Allvin. “So, right now, where we are in that case is, understanding that has a lot of political fervor attached to it. This is just one of our airmen that we lost.”
Hundreds of people gather in front of the Israeli Embassy to collectively mourn Air Force Senior Airman Aaron Bushnell, 25, who died after setting himself ablaze in protest of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza in New York. People placed flowers, lighted candles and wrote on sheets as they paid their respects. (Photo by Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“And we’re looking after family, looking at the unit and really trying to understand if there’s any context behind this, what lessons can be learned, but it’s really about the individual that we lost,” he added.
Bushnell lit himself on fire Sunday afternoon in front of the Israeli Embassy after livestreaming to Twitch as he approached the building. During the video, he said he “will no longer be complicit in genocide.”
He then set his phone down, doused himself in accelerant and set himself on fire. The video was removed from the platform, but authorities have obtained a copy.
Posters of kidnapped people line the gates at the entrance of the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Senior Airman Aaron Bushnell, an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force, died after he set himself ablaze outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., while declaring that he “will no longer be complicit in genocide.” (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Allvin’s comments at the Brookings Institute received heckling and interjections from protesters in the audience, who shouted, “Say his name, Aaron Bushnell!” and “Ceasefire now!”
The general ignored the interruptions, telling the audience that a “standard investigation process” is underway to understand what led to Bushnell’s suicidal protest.
“For our Air Force, we look at this as, whether it was politically motivated or other, we lost one of ours,” Allvin said. “And so, any suicide, whether by political protest or by resiliency issues or wherever it is, is a tragedy and, as we’re looking at wherever the rationale might be, there’s a standard investigation process we go through that, and we look at that to make sure we understand everything about what happened.”
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Demonstrators light candles during a vigil outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Bushnell was the second protester to light himself on fire in protest of the Israeli invasion of Gaza. A separate individual self-immolated in December of last year outside an Israeli consulate in Atlanta.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
