An active duty US soldier on Sunday set himself on fire as an act of protest against the US and Israeli war against the Palestinian people.
According to the Atlanta Community Press Collective, police were on scene within seconds of the self-immolation beginning. Some officers pointed firearms at the burning protester, while others called for fire extinguishers.
Police were not able to extinguish the fire until after the protester collapsed. The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed the protester was taken to a local hospital and remains in critical condition.
In a live stream video just prior to setting himself on fire, the protester stated, “I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it is not extreme at all.”
According to @taliaotg on Twitter, after the soldier set himself on fire, the Secret Service officers and Metropolitan Police who were present at the scene watch for a full minute, saying, “May I help you sir?” and as he’s on fire scream at him to get on the ground, but do not otherwise engage. One cop appears with a gun drawn on the man after he collapses, still consumed by flames.
Self-immolation is an extreme form of protest and self sacrifice that became known worldwide during the Vietnam War, when a number of Buddhist monks and nuns set themselves on fire, leaving behind messages to survivors to stop the bloodshed and end the war.
This is the second American to self-immolate in response to the ongoing atrocities in Gaza, which are being carried out by the Israeli military with US funding and weapons. On December 1st, 2023, a protester with a Palestinian flag self-immolated outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, Georgia. A security guard tried to put out the fire, but was burned and had to be hospitalized.
