Dressed in military clothing, Aaron Bushnell walked up to the Israeli embassy in the United States and set his phone down to record his final address and final act of protest, self-immolation. Bushnell yelled ‘Free Palestine’ repeatedly as flames engulfed his body. He died at a local hospital several hours after the incident.
Aaron Bushnell’s father is a U.S. Army veteran, and his mother works at a publishing house
Aaron Bushnell was born to Dave Bushnell, a U.S. Army veteran, and Danielle Bushnell, a worker at a church-based publishing house in Orlean, Massachusetts. He grew up alongside his younger brother, Sean, in a communal property owned by a religious group dubbed the Community of Jesus.
Dave runs a building company registered at one of the group’s holdings. Danielle, on the other hand, has worked for the church’s Paraclete Press for nearly three decades. According to LinkedIn, Bushnell worked alongside Danielle at the publishing house from 2015-2017. Danielle’s passions, according to her bio on the publishing house’s website, include teaching homeschoolers and playing the bass clarinet.