A man attempted to set himself on fire during an anti-Israel protest near the White House on Saturday, igniting his left arm in a dramatic scene that unfolded in front of a crowd. The man, who claimed he is a journalist, was captured on video holding his flaming arm in the air while onlookers rushed to douse the flames with water and towels. As the fire was extinguished, the man screamed, “We spread the misinformation,” and later declared, “I’m a journalist, and I said it was OK.”

The incident occurred around 5:45 p.m. along the 800 block of 16th Street, close to the White House, where demonstrators had gathered ahead of the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel – in support of the terrorists.

The man, whose identity has not yet been confirmed publicly, suffered burns to his arm and was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. Authorities restrained him at the scene before emergency services arrived.

This act of self-immolation is the third known case of someone setting themselves on fire in protest of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. In late February, 25-year-old U.S. Air Force serviceman Aaron Bushnell died of his wounds after lighting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington. Last month, 45-year-old Matt Nelson died four days after setting himself on fire near the Israeli consulate in Boston.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)