Air Force Member Lights Himself On Fire In DC To Protest Israeli/Palestine War

An active-duty U.S. Air Force member is in critical condition after he set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, officials said.

The man set himself on fire around 1 p.m. ET and both the U.S. Secret Service and Metropolitan Police Department responded, the agencies said.

The embassy said in a statement to CBS News that no staff members were injured.

MPD also investigated a "suspicious vehicle" it said may be connected to the man who set himself on fire, but that vehicle was cleared around 4 p.m.

In a video that was live-streamed on Twitch, the man identified himself and said he was an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force confirmed an active duty airman was involved, but did not identify him. Neither USSS nor MPD has identified the man. CBS News has not independently verified his identification.

Prior to setting himself on fire, the man said he would "no longer be complicit in genocide" and that he was "about to engage in an extreme act of protest." After setting himself on fire, he yelled "free Palestine" repeatedly.

The Twitch channel has since been removed, but Talia Jane, an independent reporter who received a link to the video earlier Sunday, archived the video and shared it with CBS News.

This is the second time someone has set themselves on fire outside an Israeli facility in the U.S. since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.