US Police Respond as Man Engages in Fiery Protest for Palestine
Watan- A young American man, believed to be a police officer, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, as announced by the US capital police.
Vito Maggiolo, spokesman for the city’s fire department, stated that officers from the US Secret Service extinguished the fire outside the embassy in northwest Washington, explaining that the man was transported to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries and remains in critical condition.
Incident Details
The man livestreamed the protest on the social media platform Twitch, with police responding to the incident. The video showed a man walking towards the Israeli embassy in Washington.
He added, “I will not be complicit anymore in genocide… I am about to participate in a severe protest.”
The man stood in front of the embassy gates, set aside his phone to record, and doused himself with a clear liquid from a metal bottle. He then set himself on fire, screaming “Free Palestine” until he fell to the ground.
A man sets himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in DC pic.twitter.com/8tkZJ2Rkhn
— Cedar News (@cedar_news) February 25, 2024
The video showed law enforcement officers approaching him shortly before the fire ignited. One officer can be heard off-camera saying, “Can I help you, sir?” The officers then rushed to extinguish the flames for over a minute.
Subsequently, the video was removed and replaced with a message stating that the channel violated Twitch guidelines. This was the only video posted on the account, which featured the Palestinian flag as its main image.
In the video, the man was wearing military attire and identified himself as an officer in the US Air Force.
The name he used in the video matches a profile on LinkedIn for an officer in the Air Force currently stationed in Texas. However, US authorities have not confirmed the man’s identity.
Following the incident, police investigated a suspicious vehicle nearby for explosives, but Sean Hickman, a police spokesman, stated that the scene had been cleared.
Secret Service officers and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives were working with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit in Washington.
