“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!”
Law enforcement also drew a gun on the burning man during the incident, according to a report by Task and Purpose.
When you’re a hammer…
I read that and was like “of fucking course they did.” Honestly the next paragraph makes it even worse, IMO.
Authorities were heard asking the man – “May I help you, sir?” – at first but as soon as he was engulfed in flames they started yelling at him to get down on the ground. They even drew their guns on the burning man before someone pushed them to get fire extinguishers to extinguish the fire.
Threats of physical violence are the only tool they have in their toolbox. THE ONLY tool.
Threats of physical violence are the only tool they have in their toolbox. THE ONLY tool.
And actual gun violence. They’re the sniwflakiest and wimpiest of the all, bringing an AK-47 to a civilised discussion and feeling “threatened”.
Let’s escalate everything to death
casually j-walks across a non busy street
casually j-walks across a non busy street
Sheriff’s deputies from Orange County fatally shot the man, 42-year-old Kurt Reinhold, amid an altercation in September in San Clemente, California.
The video, released on Thursday last week, shows two sheriff’s deputies considering whether or not to charge Reinhold with jaywalking, before tackling him to the floor.
Reports say the sheriff’s deputies were on patrol and were assigned to the homeless outreach team, when the shooting took place.
One of the deputies says in the video, “Watch this, he’s going to jaywalk,” before asking Reinhold: "Are you going to stop or are we going to have to make you stop?
"Jaywalking here? That’s ridiculous,” Reinhold adds.
I dunno spreading the war to Yemin, Lebanon, heck even Iran sounds pretty smart. Think of all the jobs or something for Average Americans et cetera
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firebody, one word apparently
Acab
This would be hilarious if it was satire, but this ain’t the onion.
No, but I’m sure you can get shot by police if you have an onion - that’s basically a biological weapon to assault delicate cop eyes.
Maybe they thought he had a pocket full of acorns.
good point, it’s possible we just didn’t see who he was actually aiming at
You can not make this shit up. Jesus fucking Christ what a world.
It’s a bit of a beleaguered point, but it’s very telling that this will assuredly get almost no coverage on big news networks like abc, cbs, fox, etc. and virtually no coverage in the larger papers like the NYT, sure the press agencies like Reuters and the AP will cover it and then redistributors like your source will publish this, but little thought among the media class/commentariet will be given to the man who decided there was so little hope of being able to do anything through legal/electoral means to stop a genocide that he could no longer stand idly by and had to do something to protest the sheer inhumanity of what’s going on. Barely anyone probably still remembers the person who did the same thing and died in 2022 on earth day protesting inaction on climate change/destruction, that story was absolutely buried. I don’t support any kind of self harm, but doing something as drastic as this requires a pretty compelling reason, most people remember Tibetan monks doing the same thing, but the same importance was not extended to that person in 2022 and will almost definitely not be extended to this person now. I may end up being wrong, but I expect this to be out of the news cycle/discourse in days at most.
I was listening to BBC World Report this morning. They made quick mention of it along with some other things happening in the conflict, then went on to introduce their “expert” who would illuminate the situation.
Their so called expert was an employee of some Israeli institute of security or whatever, and he talked on for ages with minimal push-back about how the israeli army is doing everything by the book and how “Gaza is safe for civilians, and if it’s not it’s the fault of Hamas”.
That was all the coverage they did.
What a fucking joke.
If anyone would like a bit of an overview about the conflict I found Shaun’s Palestine video interesting (and infuriating). I also thought Shattered Dreams of Peace by Frontline was informative on the further background
(putting it here because the parent is about misinformation and lies)
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
but it’s very telling that this will assuredly get almost no coverage on big news networks like abc, cbs, fox, etc.
ABC News - Active-duty airman sets himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy, Air Force confirms
Fox News - US service member sets himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy in DC
and virtually no coverage in the larger papers like the NYT
“gee why did he set himself on fire? must just be something people do”
it’s laughable how US media attributes self-immolation in Tibet to what must be CPC oppression, but self-immolation in the US must just be a cute little coincidence due to poor mental health
you managed so thoroughly to miss the point I was making, I’m impressed
You made an objective point, then a subjective one.
The objective one: “it’s very telling that this will assuredly get almost no coverage on big news networks like abc, cbs, fox, etc.” They addressed the objective one with their links.
The subjective one cannot be addressed yet, as it’s so soon after the event. You will probably end up correct that this event will not visibly persist, but you can’t know for sure, time will tell.
fact check! deboonked!
“There’s no global warming stuuuuupid, lookit all the snow!”
edit: /s ? do i need an /s here?
What fucking show? It’s almost March and it has snowed like four times.
that was the joke
I was rolling with you
i wasn’t the joke guy
Don’t confuse people whose whole narrative is build on some conspiracy of media suppression with facts.
I guess skipping the term “Lügenpresse” to avoid the obvious link was deemed enough progress to keep that same 100 years old tactic alive…
They said almost no and virtually no coverege. It’s not anti-semitic to point out that western media is heavily skewed towards Israel. You’re completely delusional if you think that’s not the case.
Obviously there were going to be articles about the man who set himself on fire just as there was for the person who did it in 2022 due to the climate crisis. The point is the attention the media places on WHY it happens that is being ignored or heavily downplayed.
The ABC article felt like satire in how much it avoided context or referencing what was said in the video
most people remember Tibetan monks doing the same thing
Out of political selfimmolations there were 7 Tibetan cases, but dozens of others including many Americans. I wonder why “most people” remember particularly those. Would it be that US media wasn’t fair to report not only this one here?
It was on a cover of a rage against the machine album.
Lmao that’s what i was talking about, the one on this album cover wasn’t even Tibetan, he was Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese buddhist monk, selfimmolating in Saigon in 1963 as protest against US-backed South Vietnam government persecuting buddhists.
So why people like you think he was Tibetan if not for media misleading you? This was literally the most famous of public selfimmolation and the one that started it all for in XX century.
doing something as drastic as this requires a pretty compelling reason
I’ve already had a couple people immediately retort “wow mental health is scary”, then say “nobody will remember his name”.
These people will shamelessly undermine any action then act disappointed that these actions are quickly ignored.
Few people will remember him, but if any are spurred into action by his act, then it won’t be a completely wasteful loss of life.
Yeah, I’ve seen some discourse that things like this when done by an individual as opposed to a group effort like the Tibetan monks are primarily to take their own life and the message is secondary/additional, but I would like to think that on some level something positive will come out of someone doing something as drastic and sad as this. Dying or taking your own life is not something positive or to be glorified, but when someone feels so hopeless to the point that they turn to this, I hope it’s at least a wake up call for some people to take this seriously and not just ignore/tune out one of the biggest genocides in recent history.
They didn’t even share his name, either it is something middle eastern sounding or they just want everyone to forget about him.
From lower down in this post, his name is Aaron Bushnell.
There’s already a Wikipedia article about the incident.
From what I recall on Twitter it’s a white dude, but they didn’t want to share his name.
He’s definitely white from the video but they probably want to scrub his social media history before they release his name.
I saw he was an anarchist? Not much info that I saw but yeah I could see him having a hard time in the military. I was an anarchist when I was younger too.
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Yes, my first thought was, “Crikey! Has anyone in the united states self -immolated, before?!”
It’s a horrific way to call attention to a cause. I’m sure after his best possible recovery, his military unit will rally to prosecute to add to his anguish.
:-(
I’m sure after his best possible recovery
I don’t think he’ll recover. (In fact, apparently it is already being reported that he died. But even if he hasn’t yet he will.) He was taking deep lungfuls of flame and smoke to continue his chant. He’ll have destroyed his lungs. He knew going in that he wouldn’t come out of this alive.
What a brave man.
@Maeve i
He died. It’s actually not as uncommon as you’d think.Quite a few US Americans in this list of political self immolations.
Thank you for sharing this list, we should probably be more aware of the sacrifice these people have made. The vast majority of the Americans have done it for honorable causes.
Winn Bruce last year
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The first case of an active duty serviceman self immolating in the US. Alice Herz was the first one in the US, but there have been a dozen or two since then.
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Right, which I confirmed. The person you replied to asked if it had ever happened in the US before, without specifying the military service. That’s why I clarified that this is not close to the first US self immolation generally (not even the first in response to the same thing), only for active service members.
That’s right. It says a lot, either way and this thread makes me feel very sad. It says a lot, and not on the actors. It’s rather too much to bang out on social media but it gives one a long pause for deep reflection. It feels about like one little old self confronting the collective unconscious again.
Honestly, the megacorps will only allow this on main TV when pushing regulation against protesting.
Like, "think of how many innocent
moneyslives we would save if we shoot protesters’.A person I know wrote a song about Winn Bruce, got lots of play on SoundCloud. He definitely wasn’t forgotten
I get so tired of this talking point. New York times, Washington Post, and even Fox news each have an article (or multiple) on this event.
OMG THEY HAVE AN ARTICLE OMG THAT WAS TOTALLY MY POINT, I QUITE LITERALLY TALKED ABOUT REDISTRIBUTING THINGS FROM PRESS AGENCIES JFC, HOW CAN YOU READ WHAT I WROTE AND GET TO THIS, IS THERE ANYTHING RESIDING IN BETWEEN YOUR EARS ???
This post smells like mad.
God, an unironic “you mad bro” go back to reddit lmao
I got a notification for it from Washington Post. Reuters and nbc has it on the front page.
as he was engulfed in flames they started yelling at him to get down on the ground. They even drew their guns on the burning man before someone pushed them to get fire extinguishers to extinguish the fire.
Stop killing yourself or I’ll shoot you! lmao
They would shoot at the fire, not the person, duh.
Yeah, suicide is illegal here… But getting killed by cops while you break the law isn’t.
I’m not joking. Both of those things are true.
It highlights the absolute brutality of the regime, that their first instinct was to try and kill a dying man.
They didn’t know what was going on, could have been a suicide bomber
The fuck was a gun gonna do about a suicide bomb?
I’m just saying there is no way for them to know what his intentions are, of course they drew weapons
The situation probably unfolded in a matter of seconds
why do we teach everyone to only pull your gun if you’re going to kill someone unless you’re a police – then just pull it any time you’re worried or confused!
I’m confused why my comments are negatively recieved but this isn’t https://lemm.ee/comment/9644382
Lemmy is worse than reddit
I dunno – I didn’t downvote you! :)
Maybe actually grab him with your hands, instead of going for a gun as a first option. The police in US is brutal.
Looks like he was an anarchist comrade.
honestly sad, one of the few good troops to realize how fucked the system is and then did the utmost sacrifice in protesting the systemSeems weird that an anarchist was a US soldier. Maybe he joined before he came to the political beliefs he held as he burned, or perhaps he came to these beliefs because of what he saw in the army.
That happens quite a lot when you recruit teenagers with the promise of tech job skills.
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Excuse me, what?
It is incontrovertibly ON TOPIC to point out the fact that his dying words were FREE PALESTINE followed by a scream of DEATH AGONY because he was ON FIRE. His remarks factually did not conclude in the reported way. This is not a joke. I disagree it is crass or insensitive (Whose sensibilities am I supposed to have offended, precisely? More importantly: why the fuck should I care that their feelings are hurt by my pointing out the message he died to scream to the world?), and regardless it is factual and relevant. Go back and watch again if you don’t believe me, if you have the courage.
“Crass jokes” aren’t prohibited by your badly written rules even if it were a joke.
Your moderator indiscretion is what is crass here, if anything. Shame on you.
Maybe well intentioned, but your comment very much came across as making fun of him. Hard to tell through text.
Nah i’m with the mods on that one, it came off way too much like you were laughing at them.
Well, I’ll be the first to admit it’s very hard to tell what a person’s intent is through text alone. I could have provided more context. I suppose it felt to me like it didn’t need context because it was seared into my brain.
This is the 2nd one. The only reason we’re even hearing about this is because he had to foresight to live stream it and also an independent journalist was there with a camera
I had to go looking. Wasn’t DC, was Atlanta. December 1.
Maybe this is why I’m not seeing it, it was a few months ago.
Edit: The link says this was in DC recently though.
“A US Air Force soldier is in critical condition after he set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, Sunday.”
I was investigating the “second time” comment. Yes, the most recent event was in DC. The first event was in Atlanta.
He’s died now.
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Anyone who still visits reddit, how [deleted] is this story over there?
Edit: I’ve created a torrent for the video if anyone wants to help seed. His sacrifice in bringing attention to the US-sponsored genocide in Palestine must not be forgotten.
Using the word “genocide” bans you in r/politics now
r/washingtondc locked the post
Wait really? Just using genocide gets you banned in politics? What a bunch of shmeggs. I got banned there years ago because the mods simply went through my post history. I’m still shook with how the narrative and mind of users are tilted towards a very skewed viewpoint.
Some people believe the user base of reddit is diverse, and they’re getting a healthy view of the world. Unbewknowest to them they find themselves dumbfounded when the world isn’t conforming to what they believe is the majority opinion
I can only use one sentence to comment this: when the imposters are sus
r/politics mods are horrific. In the mod log (at the bottom of the screen) you can see they delete posts just because of different opinions.
So that is what “politically correct” means when we let the far right define it. If it can’t be mentioned, it doesn’t exist.
A screenshot someone posted to r/TheDeprogram
To be fair, that post in particular seems to have been locked because it is a repost. This post is older and has quite a bit of engagement. While a quick search in the popular subs reveals that this story seems to be surpressed there, it is not true for r/TheDeprogram. Even if that sub has some problems, this story is none of them.The screenshot was posted to r/TheDeprogram, it wasn’t taken there, I’m dumb.
That post is locked because it’s on r/pics. r/TheDeprogram is an ML sub, the screenshot I posted was someone calling out r/pics.
Oh, I misunderstood. I thougth that the pic was from the deprogram sub. Thats why I went there and looked it up, because it would be very surprising to see that su censoring something like this.
Edit: It even says r/pics on the top of the screenshot, either I’m blind or I already forgot the layout of stormfront (or both)
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What story?
I’ve created a torrent for the video if anyone wants to help seed. His sacrifice in bringing attention to the US-sponsored genocide in Palestine must not be forgotten.
Noticed that the MSM is barely touching the story or if they are, with little contextual detail. Am I the only one who has noticed this?
No you are not, NPR mysteriously has no idea what motivated this man who was shouting his motivation
I’m all for shitting on lib media, but please verify claims before repeating them. NPR updated their article over 10 hours ago to report on his motivations.
I’m currently sitting behind closed ports and cannot find any peers when I try to torrent it. I’ll try again at home tomorrow
Don’t bother seeding it, it’s a censored version. I don’t know if the person who made the torrent added the blur or not, but it seems pointless to preserve it like this.
I’m not able to connect to it.
Just leave it open, it’ll find peers eventually.
Link doesn’t work.
It’s a magnet link. Copy the link address and put it in your torrent client.
censored video: https://twitter.com/taliaotg/status/1761944158636331247
catbox archived: https://files.catbox.moe/khy3kv.mp4
Couldn’t find uncensored version. Uncensored belowFucking Christ my hearts beating so fast. Goddamn i didn’t want to see that but i watched it cus i thought i owed it to him… Goddamnit.
And also shout out to the “hero” pointing his gun at his smouldering corpse as if it will lunge at him any moment.
Goddamnit
That was fucking something. I’m like you I watch it because we owe it to him.
He kept screaming free Palestine over and over, past the point where his lungs had to be toast, and stayed standing so long.
When people perform stunts (stuntmen running around engulfed in flames for movies) the most critical part, aside from extinguishing the flames as soon as is necessary, is making sure those people have oxygen. The fire will consume the oxygen that you would otherwise breathe in.
Yeah, but when you inhale super heated air, it scorches all of your alveoli?, the little fucking airbags in your lungs, and I would just figure that you would pass out very quickly from that lack of oxygen and the fact that you’re working all of your insides.
I know that speech works from the diaphragm and all that but fuck men vocal cords.
When I did my cryo training, they made very clear that you had about two steps into an oxygen free room, and you were done.
At least one of them went “I don’t need guns, I need fire extinguishers!”
I read about this and saw the censored version last night. I nearly threw up seeing the uncensored version now. I feel similar to you.
And to all the shitheads on twitter downplaying this as “glorifying mental illness,” fuck the lot of them.
He specifically livestreamed the video and sent links to the livestream and archive to various journalists and anarchist press so that the video would be shared and viewed. Its a disservice for it to be censored and weird that person also watermarked it with their @
Uncensored version: (GRAPHIC VIDEO WARNING) https://x.com/v4p4l/status/1761995206465888567?s=46&t=xtlq_1V7eXJ31HI_SLdE9g It will likely be removed soon so download while you can if you think it deserves to be archived.
Twitter is terrible so heres an upload on archive.org that has a torrent and driect download https://archive.org/download/rpreplay-final-1708967255
Because it is censored, more people will see it and more people will get the message so I disagree with you but I see your point.
literally the entire point behind this act is it being explicitly graphic, sharing the uncensored version quite literally goes against that. It’s almost as bad as censoring the message from the get go, except now we’re actively disrespecting his intention.
I think the graphic nature can be shared while also censoring the gore. It’s not like it changes the events in any way.
you can also do what this post and basically every article did, and then post a single frame of the video. No blurring needed, no graphic content explicitly posted.
I’ve created a torrent for the video if anyone wants to help seed.
Uncensored version here https://files.catbox.moe/rez1vs.mp4
I really debated if I wanted to see this, I thought didn’t need to get what he did. Let me tell you watching it made me sick to the stomach and made it much much more real than just knowing what did in text.
He was too innocent for this world. I don’t know what to say other than I promise I will never forget him and that I’ll try to spread his message and do everything I can to help free Palestine.
He is the fiery monk of our time. I watched the video below and I will admit after the second “Free Palestine” and the screaming started, I had to turn the sound off until he fell and I suspected the screaming stopped.
He is braver and has more strength than anyone on the Israeli side. I won’t forget that this hero couldn’t stay silent in the face of genocide.
I wish there was another option for him.
We failed to be organized enough.
He’s like the third guy to do this in a year, big money doesn’t want you to know about it
“law enforcement drew guns at the burning man” 💀
This is so sadly America it’s not funny.
Mirror?
Do a Google search and you can probably find it. I saw more photos on mastadon and reddit.
That’ll be in the history books.
I guess this part of the reactions to this video illustrates the confusion that people have about how it feels to be in that situation. I’m confused that people are unable to imagine it how chaotic the situation might be. We have the benefit of knowing how it unfolded, but what the police officers knew is what they were briefed on that morning (most probably threats against the embassy) and the exact situation they are in.
idk about you but I wouldn’t point a gun at someone who’s on fire in any situation
Seems like a case of reverting to training in a stressful situation.
then this just tells me their training is “point gun at what you don’t understand”
It sure does.
The pigs shouting “ON THE GROUND” to a person who is actively burning to death have got to be the finest example of cop brain. Everything’s a threat.
I kind of wish this troop would have done something like sabotage or leaked Intel like Chelsea Manning, but I’m also not gonna deny the bravery involved. Free Palestine. Death to America.
Americans don’t deserve death any more than Palestinians; people are people all over. Liberation for everyone.
It’s sloppy rhetoric if this is what he means but he said America not Americans. A lot of people feel ‘America’ - as it currently exists - could do to die a ‘death’.
Aiming his gun at disintegrated body.
You need to work on your rhetorical skills.
Death to America.
Winning hearts and minds!
Self immolation as a form of protest. For anyone unaware of it there was a Buddhist monk who immolated themself to protest the oppression of Buddhists by the Catholic PM of Vietnam.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thích_Quảng_Đức
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage_Against_the_Machine_(album)
https://time.com/3791176/malcolm-browne-the-story-behind-the-burning-monk/
“Arab Spring” started with a immolation.
For anyone unaware - it happened at least 160 times since 2009 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-immolation_protests_by_Tibetans_in_China
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_self-immolations
What really shocked me about this list is that Aaron was apparently already the 23rd person to do so SINCE THE START OF 2020, meaning there’s roughly been one person setting themselves on fire every other month or so, and I don’t think I’ve even HEARD of any of the other ones.
And not all of them happened in foreign countries either. In fact, apparently someone did the very same thing in front of the Israeli consulate in Atlanta a mere 3 months ago and I don’t even remember hearing about it.
Yes, I didn’t even know it happened in my own country of Poland. I would blame news and TV but I don’t even watch TV, and so much article titles sounds like clickbait I usually refuse to even check them. So I guess I can blame the news for the insulting clickbait tactics.
A rare hero. Not what I expected from the US.
The systems of control didn’t work on him.
More bravery in this one man than all of the IDF combined. Rest in power!
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This guy is very brave, but everyone taking about the embassy security drawing weapons when they arrive. Of course they would. They don’t know what was planned, if it was a suicide bombing gone wrong, our whatever else. I’m not pro cop but I don’t understand why people are surprised by this. They are security
Sure, maybe if they drew their weapons immediately, before his act. That’d make sense. They wouldn’t know what he was gonna do.
The trouble is, based on the reporting we have, they drew their guns after he lit himself on fire, not before:
as soon as he was engulfed in flames they started yelling at him to get down on the ground. They even drew their guns on the burning man before someone pushed them to get fire extinguishers to extinguish the fire.
I’m thinking by the time the guy was engulfed in flames he was a little too preoccupied to do much else.
Can you imagine facing a living bonfire, and your first thought is “I should draw my gun and tell them to get down on the ground”? There’s genuinely no excuse for that level of inhumanity.
If your job is to secure the embassy/ site/ scene you work down a list. They clearly followed the list.
We now know that he was no risk, but they couldn’t.
They aren’t equipped with fire extinguishers (aside from the guy who got one), so are you assuming they should jump on him? Smother a fuel fire with their bodies? Does that secure the site? No. It’s also not realistic.
Seems like securing the site then 1 person getting a fire extinguisher is a completely responsible response.
He’d already fallen down and stopped screaming when they drew on him. What threat would he pose that a gun was going to solve at that time? Before you say bomb, think carefully about what a gun was going to do in that circumstance.
No, this was an example (once again) that “try to kill anything you don’t immediately understand” is the default condition of our law enforcement. Last week’s example was an acorn, and a very, very lucky handcuffed man in the back of a police cruiser.
This is not the acorn thing at all. They are trained to secure the embassy and they did that.
Thank you for ignoring everything else I wrote.
I ignored it because it’s irrelevant. You’re applying a subjective value assessment to professionals following training. It’s ugly, but it’s not meant to be “nice” or compassionate. They are there to protect the embassy
I ignored it because it’s irrelevant.
You ignored the context and circumstances because they’re irrelevant?
Your answer to every comment has consistently been (paraphrasing): “trust the cops, they know what they’re doing”, irrespective of any surrounding facts that might suggest otherwise, or any past history that would suggest that law enforcement doesn’t deserve that level of blind trust.
Given that, there’s little point in further discussion.
I just want to know what they were going to prevent with guns, given he was immobilized and not even screaming anymore in addition to being engulfed in flames. You seem to have all the answers, so I’m sure there must be something dangerous he could have done at that point which could have been stopped by a gun - please just tell me what it was.
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What, exactly, would a gun do if he was a suicide bomber?
Stop him before he got any closer to the embassy. Obviously a gun won’t stop him from commiting suicide, but it could easily be the difference between one person dying and a much larger act of terrorism
There’s a metal fence. What would he even get close to?
Considering the security forces had no idea whether he was working alone or what was happening, they obviously didn’t think they could rely on the metal fence.
Look, I’m all for a free Palestine and I agree that what is happening in Gaza is a genocide. I also think that voluntary membership in any American or Israeli law enforcement makes them complicit in the heinous acts perpetrated by American cops and the IDF, respectively. I don’t know you, but I’d guess that you and I agree a lot more than we disagree on these issues. I’m just saying, from the PoV of the security forces at the Israeli embassy, this was a potential threat to the embassy and their job is literally to prevent threats from harming the embassy. Without any further information to go on, their decision to draw guns first and get the extinguisher second is reasonable.
If he wasn’t alone what would shooting him accomplish? You still haven’t actually presented a compelling reason he needed to be kept under a gun.
I think it’s understandable that people untrained for a situation like this would fall back on the default, I know I wouldn’t know what to do, but calling that “reasonable” as if it really makes sense in hindsight is a stretch.
If he wasn’t alone what would shooting him accomplish? You still haven’t actually presented a compelling reason he needed to be kept under a gun.
Once Bushnell was on fire and had stopped moving toward the gate/fence, you are correct, he didn’t need to be kept under a gun. However, if he had started to move in a threatening way or if he had been working with a larger group, having the guns drawn could have saved crucial seconds if someone else began to act in a threatening way. The security forces simply didn’t know what the fuck was happening, and in that situation, it is better to have the guns drawn and to be ready for the worst case scenario.
I think it’s understandable that people untrained for a situation like this would fall back on the default, I know I wouldn’t know what to do, but calling that “reasonable” as if it really makes sense in hindsight is a stretch.
That’s fair. I can get behind calling it “understandable” instead of “reasonable”
Shoot the suicide bomber before a bigger boom. What if there was another person? Another thing? We can’t know, they can’t know. We know now, due to hindsight.
They are security. They secure scenes. They aren’t paramedics.
I am not making pro cop statements here, but all the comments about “ohhh the cop arrived to a dangerous scene with a weapon drawn!” Is like saying “the garbage man picked up the garbage bin when he drove past my house!” Duh!
He’s on fire! Shooting him wouldn’t stop a bigger boom!
I’ll give the cops this: they probably were not trained on what to do if someone lights themselves on fire. They just fell back on basic training.
It’s murica, they weren’t trained at all.
They did the one thing they were trained to do – Pull first ask
questionsfor fire extinguishers later
shoot out the fire or scare the guy so much he stops being on fire – only options
Well yeah I’m not surprised that cops are not there to protect average people and provide them safety, they’re there to protect private property.
The embassy security secures the embassy. Whodathunk
Secures the embassy from a man caught on fire (very capable!) and is outside its fence. Could you imagine what would’ve happened if they weren’t there? Yeah, still no threat to the embassy :)
You know that now due to hindsight
Real footage of security cops hard at work:
I see one seeming to be getting medical equipment while one secures the scene. seems very professional.
Did you want to find another screenshot?
I’m not being pro cop here, I’m being anti assuming cops will be helpful buddies when you do things near an embassy. in an era of mass shooters and all sorts of public violence it’s no surprise that agents of the state be state agents
Someone had to yell “fire extinguisher not guns!” for them to even consider doing anything other than raise guns at a burning man.
I’m being anti assuming cops will be helpful buddies when you do things near an embassy.
That is the point I make. Never trust cops. They will rarely ever be helpful.
And as I’ve argued/miscommunicated with folks a few times here: they aren’t expected to be so. They aren’t there to help. They are there to secure the embassy
