Washington民众自发悼念自焚抗议Israel的Aaron Bushnell
版主: minquan
#2 Re: Washington民众自发悼念自焚抗议Israel的Aaron Bushnell
US airman Aaron Bushnell claimed to have classified knowledge of US forces fighting in Gaza tunnels on night before setting himself on fire
https://nypost.com/2024/02/27/us-news/a ... s-in-gaza/
Aaron Bushnell claimed he had secret knowledge of US troops fighting in Hamas tunnels under Gaza — just hours before setting himself on fire in an “extreme act of protest” against Israel, a close pal told The Post on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old airman — who served in the Air Force’s 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing, but also interacted with radical anarchist groups online — ranted that he had “top-secret clearance’’ for military intelligence data in the call to his friend Saturday night, he said.
“He told me on Saturday that we have troops in those tunnels, that it’s US soldiers participating in the killings,’’ claimed the pal, whose ties to Bushnell have been verified by The Post.
https://nypost.com/2024/02/27/us-news/a ... s-in-gaza/
Aaron Bushnell claimed he had secret knowledge of US troops fighting in Hamas tunnels under Gaza — just hours before setting himself on fire in an “extreme act of protest” against Israel, a close pal told The Post on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old airman — who served in the Air Force’s 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing, but also interacted with radical anarchist groups online — ranted that he had “top-secret clearance’’ for military intelligence data in the call to his friend Saturday night, he said.
“He told me on Saturday that we have troops in those tunnels, that it’s US soldiers participating in the killings,’’ claimed the pal, whose ties to Bushnell have been verified by The Post.

#3 Re: Washington民众自发悼念自焚抗议Israel的Aaron Bushnell
“He told me that we had troops on the ground, you know, that were there and were killing large numbers of Palestinians.
“There’s just too many things I don’t know, but I can tell you that the tone of his voice just had something in it that told me he was scared,’’ the buddy said.
“I’ve never heard that tone come out of him.”
Although Bushnell claimed he was imparting top secret information to his pal, there is no way of verifying whether that is true.
The White House has repeatedly said it will not put US troops on the ground in Gaza, and President Biden has said he hopes to negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas this week.
US special operations forces have been deployed in Israel since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack, according to the New York Times, to “identify hostages, including American hostages,” after more than 200 were taken by the group during its raid.
Special forces have also been on hand to assist with strategy for Israeli troops in Gaza, who are flushing out Hamas members from the network of tunnels under the territory, but the report noted troops are “not assigned any combatant roles.”
The Air Force confirmed Bushnell’s title was Innovation Services Technician but has not specified what security clearance he had. It did not immediately return a request for comment from The Post Tuesday.
The friend — who noted he does not “support Hamas in any way, shape or form” — said he was surprised as Bushnell never previously violated his military clearance.
“He’s had a security clearance for four years now, and it is the only time that he has ever, as far as I know, broke protocol and gave out information that he shouldn’t have,’’ the pal said of their conversation.
“He was frightened,’’ the friend said of Bushnell, who grew up in a controversial religious compound in a tiny seaside town in Massachusetts, but ended up fatally lighting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, around 1 p.m. Sunday while screaming, “Free Palestine!”
In the minutes before setting himself alight, Bushnell had live-streamed a short video address in which he said he would “no longer be complicit in genocide.”
In his final Facebook post, Bushnell also wrote: “Many of us like to ask ourselves … What would I do if my country was committing genocide? The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”
Unconfirmed posts on Reddit linked to an account that appeared to belong to Bushnell included rants against Israel and justifying Hamas’ terror attack.
They were made in anarchist and anti-police groups and sat alongside more mundane posts about computer software and asking for career advice.
Bushnell also supported the Burning River Anarchist Collective and Mutual Aid Street Solidarity on his Facebook page.
Bushnell’s friend said he had no idea the devout Christian would commit suicide, especially since the airman previously told him he was against it.
“He said it was against God’s plan, there’s always better solutions than suicide, suicide is not going to fix anything,’’ the pal said of Bushnell’s comments to him at the time.
“So for Aaron to have done what he did, there were things that overrode that,’’ the friend said.
“The problems that he was looking at, he couldn’t fix. He would have made this decision to try to make it so somebody else could fix what the problem was.”
The friend said that when he learned about the livestreamed suicide, “My initial reaction is, ‘This can’t be real.’
“ ‘Suicide is not something Aaron would do,’ ” the pal said.
He added that when the pair discussed what Bushnell said he had uncovered about the war, “I told him to follow his conscience, that’s always led him in the right direction before,” although Bushnell did not hint at what he would do the next day.
“Aaron was very analytical, he would have made this kind of a decision after putting a tremendous amount of thought into it.”
“There’s just too many things I don’t know, but I can tell you that the tone of his voice just had something in it that told me he was scared,’’ the buddy said.
“I’ve never heard that tone come out of him.”
Although Bushnell claimed he was imparting top secret information to his pal, there is no way of verifying whether that is true.
The White House has repeatedly said it will not put US troops on the ground in Gaza, and President Biden has said he hopes to negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas this week.
US special operations forces have been deployed in Israel since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack, according to the New York Times, to “identify hostages, including American hostages,” after more than 200 were taken by the group during its raid.
Special forces have also been on hand to assist with strategy for Israeli troops in Gaza, who are flushing out Hamas members from the network of tunnels under the territory, but the report noted troops are “not assigned any combatant roles.”
The Air Force confirmed Bushnell’s title was Innovation Services Technician but has not specified what security clearance he had. It did not immediately return a request for comment from The Post Tuesday.
The friend — who noted he does not “support Hamas in any way, shape or form” — said he was surprised as Bushnell never previously violated his military clearance.
“He’s had a security clearance for four years now, and it is the only time that he has ever, as far as I know, broke protocol and gave out information that he shouldn’t have,’’ the pal said of their conversation.
“He was frightened,’’ the friend said of Bushnell, who grew up in a controversial religious compound in a tiny seaside town in Massachusetts, but ended up fatally lighting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, around 1 p.m. Sunday while screaming, “Free Palestine!”
In the minutes before setting himself alight, Bushnell had live-streamed a short video address in which he said he would “no longer be complicit in genocide.”
In his final Facebook post, Bushnell also wrote: “Many of us like to ask ourselves … What would I do if my country was committing genocide? The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”
Unconfirmed posts on Reddit linked to an account that appeared to belong to Bushnell included rants against Israel and justifying Hamas’ terror attack.
They were made in anarchist and anti-police groups and sat alongside more mundane posts about computer software and asking for career advice.
Bushnell also supported the Burning River Anarchist Collective and Mutual Aid Street Solidarity on his Facebook page.
Bushnell’s friend said he had no idea the devout Christian would commit suicide, especially since the airman previously told him he was against it.
“He said it was against God’s plan, there’s always better solutions than suicide, suicide is not going to fix anything,’’ the pal said of Bushnell’s comments to him at the time.
“So for Aaron to have done what he did, there were things that overrode that,’’ the friend said.
“The problems that he was looking at, he couldn’t fix. He would have made this decision to try to make it so somebody else could fix what the problem was.”
The friend said that when he learned about the livestreamed suicide, “My initial reaction is, ‘This can’t be real.’
“ ‘Suicide is not something Aaron would do,’ ” the pal said.
He added that when the pair discussed what Bushnell said he had uncovered about the war, “I told him to follow his conscience, that’s always led him in the right direction before,” although Bushnell did not hint at what he would do the next day.
“Aaron was very analytical, he would have made this kind of a decision after putting a tremendous amount of thought into it.”
