US soldier dies after self-immolation

[DecisionFatigue]

I don’t know if there has already been a thread about this but I’ve just seen his last message/video and his cries and I just feel so exasperated that it’s come to this. Sources say he was a very proud airman and noted as being “top of the class” but he could no longer be complicit.

The Burning Monk obviously comes to mind, who changed the course of history forever. I hope this man’s actions and subsequent death won’t be in vain.

RIP Aaron Bushnell

I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion of this, on MN and elsewhere.
So awful. What an incredible man.

I had not heard of this. The whole situation is an utter tragedy.

Absolutely heart breaking!!

I saw it too, absolutely horrendous poor soul

Heartbreaking and the lack of media coverage is shocking.

Incredible? It's not incredible to burn yourself to death for a political cause. It's tragic and disturbing. Sympathy to his family.

Greater media coverage can serve to encourage others with mental illness to do similarly horrific things with the intention for them to be seen and discussed/used as encouragement for others. It's a similar logic to public acts of terrorism, violence and some other suicides - it's the being seen that's the motivating factor and it's the coverage that acts as an incentive to the already vulnerable.

Agree.

Such a strange choice of words!

Agreed

I did have a quick look before posting and thought maybe I had missed something on here.

It really is heartbreaking; it’s not something someone just randomly decides to do - people can’t shout any louder, this is the consequence of societies being ignored.

this is the consequence of societies being ignored

It’s the consequence of chronic underfunding for mental health services.

Do you think this was a reasonable thing to do? Just an extreme form of protest?

I agree.

Self-immolation has had huge impact in the past and literally changed the course of history. This man obviously felt this was the most impactful way to protest and raise awareness based on past events. I for one have a better understanding of how many US servicemen/women are angry about the position the US has taken after reading testimonies written online reacting to this event.

I think your response to this act of suicide is bizarre.

It’s desperately sad but he obviously planned to have a profound impact in the same way past self-immolation protests have. The fact that he was a proud US serviceman will hopefully make some groups of US society listen to his message.

It sounds like he was a very troubled young man who went from a controlling religious sect to the controlling military and then decided anarchy was a better fit and decided this would be the ultimate act for anarchy. All in all, I find it more of a sad tale than a loud protest, and much different than the Burning Monk.

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/27/aaron-bushnell-israel-embassy-anarchist-community-of-jesus

Self immolation resulted in the Arab spring, so it is a very painful way to bring about change. In this case it was done to stop the funding of arms to Israel that leads to thousands of civilian deaths.

This is severe mental illness, not something to celebrate.

I remember Mohamed Bouazizi. Self-immolation is desperately sad but people are often desperate for change.

There have been a lot of suicides of disabled people due to the benefits cuts, but this man attempted suicide as a political protest — to highlight the issue — and has been imprisoned for it:

https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/overwhelmed-claimant-admits-chemical-weapon-charge-after-jobcentre-suicide-attempt/

In what way does that article suggest he was ‘a very troubled young man”? There’s next to no information about him in the article.

Fucking hell, that’s horrific. This should have been more widely reported too, I hadn’t heard of this until now. Instead of it bringing about change, they’ve silenced him. Bastards.

Quite frankly, I think the only thing it’s a sign off is mental health issues resulting in desperation.

Having seen the video over the past few days, he is remarkably calm and composed up until the point of self-immolation. You could obviously say anyone who sets fire to themselves has “severe mental illness”. But my sense is it was an extreme act of principle, not madness.

And at the risk of sounding like a conspiracy loon, it suits the US agenda to paint Aaron as a lone-wolf mentally ill person, rather than a clear-eyed serviceman who couldn’t let what his employer is doing in the Middle East stand.