this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2024
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“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!”

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[–] treadful@lemmy.zip 171 points 8 months ago (4 children)

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...

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 150 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml 59 points 8 months ago

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".

[–] mofongo@lemm.ee 46 points 8 months ago
[–] Zozano@lemy.lol 26 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This would be hilarious if it was satire, but this ain't the onion.

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[–] arymandias@feddit.de 21 points 8 months ago

You can not make this shit up. Jesus fucking Christ what a world.

[–] tree@lemmy.zip 127 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (10 children)

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.

[–] sab@kbin.social 73 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

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.

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[–] Dex@sopuli.xyz 42 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)
[–] naturalgasbad@lemmy.ca 49 points 8 months ago

"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

[–] tree@lemmy.zip 33 points 8 months ago (1 children)

you managed so thoroughly to miss the point I was making, I'm impressed

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 15 points 8 months ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] Ooops@kbin.social 15 points 8 months ago (1 children)

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...

[–] onkyo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 32 points 8 months ago

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.

[–] Lath@kbin.social 21 points 8 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] tree@lemmy.zip 15 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

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.

[–] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml 20 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

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?

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[–] Maeve@kbin.social 15 points 8 months ago (7 children)

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.

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[–] amzd@kbin.social 87 points 8 months ago (5 children)

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

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 13 points 8 months ago

They would shoot at the fire, not the person, duh.

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[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 68 points 8 months ago (1 children)

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

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[–] Alsephina@lemmy.ml 68 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

Looks like he was an anarchist comrade.

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[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 45 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

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.

[–] matcha_addict@lemy.lol 46 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

Using the word "genocide" bans you in r/politics now

r/washingtondc locked the post

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[–] Sabakodgo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 40 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

censored video: https://twitter.com/taliaotg/status/1761944158636331247

catbox archived: https://files.catbox.moe/khy3kv.mp4
Image

~~Couldn't find uncensored version~~. Uncensored below

[–] nix@merv.news 25 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

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

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[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 37 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

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.

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[–] PanArab@lemmy.ml 32 points 8 months ago (1 children)

A rare hero. Not what I expected from the US.

[–] Quexotic@infosec.pub 13 points 8 months ago

The systems of control didn't work on him.

[–] sweetpotato@lemmy.ml 28 points 8 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca 30 points 8 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 27 points 8 months ago

I wish there was another option for him.

We failed to be organized enough.

[–] WiseThat@lemmy.ca 14 points 8 months ago

He's like the third guy to do this in a year, big money doesn't want you to know about it

[–] xapr@lemmy.sdf.org 26 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] penquin@lemm.ee 36 points 8 months ago (7 children)

The comments on the video are actually more horrifying than the video itself. How can a human watch another human suffer like this and be happy/laugh about it? They're wishing that others would do the same just because they think differently from them? Do we even have any hope left in humanity anymore?

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 20 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Holy shit you weren't kidding. Those comments are horrifying.

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[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 24 points 8 months ago (3 children)

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

[–] zaphod@lemmy.ca 33 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (16 children)

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.

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[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 16 points 8 months ago (2 children)

What, exactly, would a gun do if he was a suicide bomber?

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[–] matcha_addict@lemy.lol 15 points 8 months ago (7 children)

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.

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[–] davel@lemmy.ml 21 points 8 months ago
[–] gitgud@lemmy.ml 15 points 8 months ago

Aaron Bushnell, the greatest American since John Brown

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