US Soldier Sets Himself on Fire outside Israeli Embassy in Washington to Protest Gaza War - News18
www.news18.com
A US Air Force soldier is in critical condition after he set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, Sunday. He live streamed the self-immolation action on Twitch where he captured himself standing outside the gates of the Israeli embassy and identifying himself as a member of the US Air Force.

“I will no longer be complicit in genocide [in Gaza]. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest,” the man apparently said before setting himself alight and repeatedly shouting “Free Palestine!”

Archive link

  • octopus_ink@lemmy.mlEnglish
    6·
    9 months ago

    But they know possibilities right?

    If I say “guy in a store with a gun” - he could be a robber, he could be a murderer, he could have hostages, etc.

    This guy was down, engulfed in flames, and not screaming when they drew. So what possibilities come up when I say “guy on the ground, on fire, past the ability to communicate or travel under his own power” that is a problem a gun could solve?

    In any case this:

    They don’t know what they’re walking into. We know after the fact what they had.

    Is just a more palatable (to you) way to say this, which is what I wrote in the first comment of mine you replied to:

    this was an example (once again) that “try to kill anything you don’t immediately understand” is the default condition of our law enforcement.

    See, we agree!

    • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
      4·
      9 months ago

      They are security staff. They approach anything and secure it. Everything else is subjective

      • octopus_ink@lemmy.mlEnglish
        7·
        9 months ago

        Why even bother to reply if that’s the only thing you are capable of saying? We both know there isn’t a reasonable answer to the question I keep asking.

        Fuckers threatening a service-member with deadly force for compliance while he burns to death, and lots of folks jumping up to defend it. At the very least I refuse to accept these empty platitudes.

        Edit - clarification of wording

        • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
          4·
          9 months ago

          I mean, same to you?

          You don’t like the behavior of security staff who have one very cold, very unfriendly goal: keep the embassy safe. I doubt they have specific training on self immolation so obviously they used standard procedure.

          They don’t give a fuck about public perception, the feelings of the involved individuals, etc.

          Everyone keeps asking " why weren’t they this or that or the other thing". There’s one root answer weather folks like it or not.

          • octopus_ink@lemmy.mlEnglish
            5·
            9 months ago

            I mean, same to you?

            I guess I kept hoping for an actual answer to the question I kept asking, as one might expect during an honest discussion. Don’t worry, I’ve given up now.

            • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
              4·
              9 months ago

              The actual answer is truly that these professional security types don’t care. They go guns ready for anything that is remotely threatening to the embassy. A dude on fire on the perimeter apparently counts, no matter what we think of that.