Former Nauset Student Dies After Self Immolation

A former Nauset student died Sunday night, hours after he set fire to himself outside of the Israeli Embassy.

Aaron Bushnell, 25, of San Antonio, Texas, was transported to a local hospital in the nation’s capital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Bushnell attended Orleans Elementary School from 2003 to 2007 and later Nauset Regional High School for one year in 2014.

In a statement from the Nauset Public Schools Monday, the district said it was “heartbroken” to learn of Bushnell’s “untimely” death.

“Our school community is saddened by Mr. Bushnell’s death and we offer our condolences to his family and friends,” the statement read.

Bushnell was an active duty airman in the United States Air Force. In a statement Monday, the Air Force confirmed Bushnell’s death, but said that it is waiting until his next of kin are notified before commenting further.

In a police report, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department said a unit from the Secret Service Uniformed Division was called at approximately 1 p.m. Sunday to respond to a report of “an individual exhibiting signs of mental distress outside the Israeli Embassy.” Bushnell “doused himself with an unidentified liquid and set himself on fire,” according to the report.

Secret Service members extinguished the fire before fire officials arrived on the scene, the report said. Bushnell was treated and later pronounced dead at 8:06 p.m. Sunday night.

Bushnell reportedly livestreamed his protest on Twitch. The video shows a man in military fatigues identifying himself as Bushnell talking as he approaches the embassy building. In the video, he identifies himself as an active duty airman and says that he “will no longer be complicit in genocide.”

“I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest,” he says. “But compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all.”

The video then shows Bushnell douse himself in fluid before reaching into his pocket for what appears to be a lighter. He then can be heard repeatedly yelling “Free Palestine” as officials run to his aid.

“There’s no reason that a life should end so soon, period,” Chris Easley, who chairs the Nauset Regional School Committee, said when reached by phone Monday. “It’s just a shame.”

The Gaza Health Ministry last week reported that approximately 29,000 Palestinians have died since Hamas launched its attack on South Israel on Oct. 7.

The Guardian and Washington Post reported Tuesday that Bushnell was a member of the Community of Jesus on Bay View Drive near Rock Harbor. A woman with the organization declined to pass along The Chronicle’s request for comment Tuesday.

Email Ryan Bray at ryan@capecodchronicle.com