Man sets himself on FIRE outside White House during pro-Palestine protest in shocking scenes
A man attempted to set himself on fire outside the White House during a Pro-Palestinian rally.
Samuel Mena Jr, who identified himself as a journalist, was captured on video setting his left arm on fire, lifting it into the air, and screaming in pain before bystanders and police rushed to help him. Bystanders doused him with water and beat the flame out with towels.
Mena wrote on social media: “I will be streaming live from the White House exterior on Instagram live in 30 minutes. The first 30 minutes will be spent doing tech trouble shooting, and I will give a speech in an hour from now. “
Several hours before that, he sent a tweet saying “End settler colonialism.”
According to Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department chief Pamela Smith, Mena was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, adding: “The District of Columbia has a long and proud history of peaceful First Amendment activities and the Metropolitan Police Department handles hundreds of protests, demonstrations, and other events every year.”
The statement said: “We will continue to support those who choose to protest peacefully and safely, and we will continue to hold accountable those who commit criminal acts while in our city.”
It’s not the first time there has been a self immolation in the US capital over the ongoing conflict in Gaza. In February, Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old Air Force service member, doused himself with a flammable liquid and set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC.
Broadcasting the incident on live-streaming website Twitch, Bushnell said he was protesting against “what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonisers” and shouted “Free Palestine” as he burned. He was transported to a local hospital in critical condition and was declared dead later that evening.
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Thousands of protesters took to the streets in major cities around the world on Saturday demanding an end to bloodshed in Gaza and the wider Middle East ahead of the first anniversary of the deadly Hamas attack on Israel.
About 40,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London, while thousands gathered in Paris, Rome, Manila, Cape Town and New York City. Demonstrations were also held near the White House in Washington, protesting against US support for Israel in military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.
The war in Gaza started when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7 last year, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. It has laid waste to the enclave, displacing nearly all of the 2.3 million population and causing a hunger crisis, leading to many accusing Israel of committing genocide.
Over the past year, the scale of Israel’s actions in Gaza has drawn some of the biggest global demonstrations in years, including in the US and UK, which saw weeks of pro-Palestinian college campus encampments.
Advocates have raised concerns over antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric in some protests and counter-protests related to the conflict. Rights advocates have warned about rising threats against Muslims and Jews around the world.
The UK and the US have supported Israel’s right to self-defence, but Israel has faced wide international condemnation over its actions in Gaza, and now over its bombarding of Lebanon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government is acting to prevent a repeat of the October 7 assault by Hamas.