Third man 'self-immolates' to protest Israel's Gaza genocide, US complicity

Matt Nelson, an anti-war activist, has reportedly self-immolated in protest against the US complicity in Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and its impact on the Palestinian people.

On Wednesday, before the self-immolation, a video surfaced on YouTube in which Nelson condemned the Biden administration for its material and political support of Israel's brutal siege and carnage in Gaza.

"My name is Matt Nelson and I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest," he says in the video.

"The protest I’m about to engage in is a call to our government to stop supplying Israel with the money and weapons it uses to imprison and murder innocent Palestinians, to pressure Israel to end the genocide in Gaza, and to support the ICC indictment of Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli government," he says.

He continues, "We call ourselves the greatest nation in history yet we spend more on weapons of war than we do on educating our children helping the homeless and ensuring all Americans have equal rights and protecting the environment combined."

At the end of the video, he calls upon those who "are of the same mind" to demand American members of Congress to act on the stated goals of his act of protest.

"A democracy is supposed to serve the will of the people, not the interests of the wealthy."

He concludes by leaving viewers with a succinct urge: "Take the power back [and] free Palestine."

TRT World contacted the media relations bureau of the Boston Police Department but received no comment thus far.

'Free Palestine': Self-immolators' final message

Nelson's is the third reported case since October 7 of an American citizen self-immolating outside an Israeli embassy or consulate to protest the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and the Biden administration's complicity.

In December of 2023, an unknown protester set herself on fire outside of the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta. Officials who arrived at the site recounted it as an "act of extreme political protest". A Palestinian flag was found near the site of the self-immolation.

On February 25 of this year, Aaron Bushnell, an active duty US Air Force member, self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. He died of his injuries after being taken to a hospital; until he was no longer able, he repeatedly yelled, "Free Palestine."

Israel's genocide in Gaza

Israel has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 100,000 others in nearly 11 months of war.

But experts and some studies say this is just a tip of the iceberg and the actual Palestinian death toll could be around 200,000 or higher.

Some 10,000 Palestinians are feared buried under the rubble of their bombed homes. Another 10,000 have been abducted by Israel and put in Israeli jails and torture chambers.

Israeli bombardment has laid waste to much of Gaza and displaced almost the entire 2.4 million population. Israel is accused of carrying out genocide in Gaza in the International Court of Justice while prosecutors at the International Criminal Court are seeking arrest warrants for extremist Israeli leaders including Benjamin Netanyahu.