On February 25th, 2024, 25-year-old active duty Airman, beloved anarchist, and comrade in the struggle Aaron Bushnell chose death over complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people.

 We almost avoided watching the footage of Aaron’s self-immolation, knowing that it would remain rooted in our memory forever. Those of us with medical training know how terrifying and agonizing death by fire is. We knew, however, that we owed it to Aaron to bear witness to what he describes as an “extreme act of protest”, what we understand to be the desperate actions of a comrade who can no longer face living in the silent collusion mandated by the American fascist state.

Video footage from Aaron’s Twitch account shows our young comrade walking toward the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C dressed in Air Force fatigues, describing his rejection of what the “ruling class has decided will be normal”. As he approaches the heavily-guarded gates, the corner of his mouth lifts in a slight smile. Knowing the actions he has committed to executing, it seems that Aaron both deeply understands and is at peace with the gravity of what he has chosen. Before reaching the place where he will make his final stand, Aaron turns to the camera and delivers his final communique:

“My name is Aaron Bushnell. I am an active-duty member of the US Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I’m 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’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”

Moments later, Aaron chooses an agonizing death over complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people. He screams, over and over again, the words “free Palestine” until the flames consume him. It is a heartbreaking and disgusting encapsulation of the American police state ethos that the responding officers point loaded weapons at Aaron as he burns to death. In giving his life by such painful, graphic, and public means, Aaron refuses to let us turn away.

Americans have a complicated relationship with martyrdom—for the most part, society regards those who give their lives in hopes of advancing a liberatory agenda as brainwashed fools, psychiatric cases, and/or terrorists. Aaron was, according to those who knew and organized with him, a principled anarchist and “force of joy in [his] community”. The mainstream media and pro-genocide lobby will undoubtedly attempt to depict him as a mentally-ill outlier manipulated by pro-Palestine activists whose act was one of mere suicide rather than protest. We must resist this narrative, which we know to be untrue, and instead uplift the words that Aaron gave us before his death.

Aaron’s final call to action begs us to refuse silence, complicity, and normalizing in the face of genocide. He gave his life to disturb the pacified stupor of the West, rattling the consciousness of a nation where the vast majority of consumers are unwilling to even relinquish their daily Starbucks. He is seizing us by the shoulders and shaking, demanding that we take action as we would in the face of any other injustice, urging us to resist the ultra-American indifference to the systematic slaughter in Gaza. We live in a fascist police state that both requires and expects us to sit numbly in silence, too afraid of being punished for violence to rise to defiance, while our government sponsors and carries out global genocides. Militant direct action in the vein of Aaron’s final act of protest is the one of the only effective means of challenging the state and achieving liberation.

We must honor Aaron’s legacy by resisting complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people by any means necessary. So do what you can: get in the streets and fuck shit up. Smash windows, tag walls, light fires if you have to. Take over buildings, barricade streets, shut down major roadways and disrupt business as usual. The state is afraid—keep them fucking afraid. Follow the leadership of Palestinian comrades, be a good accomplice. Disrupt the status quo whenever possible. Connect with your community, strengthen networks of care, help build the world we want to live in. Take care of yourselves and each other. And remember Aaron Bushnell as a hero, a principled anarchist, and a beloved comrade whose actions have the potential to change everything. May his memory be a blessing.

Aaron—the world you wanted to see is within reach and we will never stop fighting for it. Your soul will see a free Palestine.

With love, rage, and solidarity,

your autonomous comrades in so-called Seattle. 

Published: 28-2-24