Mental crisis didn’t cause airman to self-immolate in protest of Israel, Air Force found

An airman who set himself on fire two years ago in Washington, D.C. to protest Israeli military actions in Gaza did so with a clear head, and not because of a mental health crisis, his wing commander said in newly obtained documents.

With that determination, the senior leader overturned an Air Force investigating officer’s conclusion that Aaron Bushnell’s final act was brought on by psychiatric problems.

Instead, the commander wrote, Bushnell’s death was due to his own “misconduct” and “Not In the Line of Duty,” a rare reversal of an investigating officer’s findings.

Under Air Force regulations, investigators must maintain “a strong presumption” that suicides are “In the Line of Duty,” a classification that can have consequences for death benefits. However, Col. Celina Noyes said the guidance could be overcome in this case. “SrA Bushnell’s statements and actions indicate that he understood the ramifications of his conduct,” Noyes wrote in her decision.

Noyes said Bushnell “did not make a sudden decision” when he drove to the Israeli embassy on Feb. 25, 2024, set up a livestream on Twitch, doused his uniformed body in fuel and warned viewers he was about to commit “an extreme act of protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people.”

The Air Force report, which Task & Purpose obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, detailed the 25-year-old Bushnell’s military service dating back to his years working for the National Security Agency as a cyber security specialist through interviews with his therapist, friends, and colleagues.

That Bushnell’s death was ruled “In the Line of Duty” and then overruled by Noyes has not been previously reported. Nor have the extensive details of Bushnell’s life compiled in the 1,000-page investigation, including a resume indicating Bushnell worked at a NSA signals intelligence hub on Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, a position for which he had a Top Secret clearance and was vetted with a polygraph.

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The documents do not say Bushnell participated in work related to Israel, though he did visit the country before enlisting and told friends he “got a glimpse” of what he deemed an apartheid system in the country.

The report offers insight into an airman who peers considered extremely intelligent and empathetic, someone who enjoyed charity work and was inclined to follow military rules even as his politics turned “radical.” The documents also explore how Bushnell grappled with leaving a reclusive Christian sect for the military, only to become disturbed by U.S. intelligence support and weapons shipments to Israel, telling a colleague that he felt he had “blood on his hands.”

When reached for comment, an Air Force spokesperson said Noyes’ decision to list Bushnell’s death as “Not in the Line of Duty” was reviewed and cosigned by Lt. Gen. Thomas Hensley, who helms the 16th Air Force, a cyber warfare command.

In the line of duty? Or not?

Coming to terms with Bushnell’s death, and how to treat his final act, was difficult for his chain of command.

Bushnell’s commander at the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron, whose name is redacted from the report, wrote in a memo several months after the incident that Bushnell had caused “reputational harm to the Department of Defense.” The incident, the commander said, raised difficult legal questions about whether Bushnell could be accused of refusal to serve, which can result in the forfeiture of death benefits.

“This was not his first display of martyrdom. SrA Bushnell often sacrificed much of his spare time to distribute food to the homeless,” the commander wrote. “I cannot emphasize enough the importance of understanding why SrA Bushnell took his life.”

The commander asked that a higher Air Force authority determine whether the death should be listed as “In the Line of Duty,” as is typical with active duty deaths when there’s no misconduct on the part of the deceased.

An investigating officer for the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing determined in April 2025 that Bushnell “was not mentally responsible for his actions.”

“At first glance it might appear that SrA Bushnell was guided by his extreme beliefs,” the investigating officer wrote. “But further investigation supports that it was quite the opposite. Based on journal entries, witness testimony, and events unfolding right before the self-immolation, SrA Bushnell intended to take his life due to mental health challenges rather than extreme views.”

Noyes, who led the 70th ISR Wing at the time, reversed that decision weeks later, saying that Bushnell’s actions were deliberate and “there was no evidence” he lacked mental responsibility.

Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force lawyer, said it’s rare for an investigating officer’s Line of Duty determination to be reversed.

However, she said it’s not likely the finding would prevent the payout of a military life insurance policy Bushnell left his brother, valued at roughly $500,000, if Bushnell wasn’t accused of charges like treason, “which the facts of this case do not support whatsoever.”

Insomnia on the NSA night shift

Bushnell attended bi-weekly therapy sessions from 2022 until just before his death, but his therapist said he was not clinically depressed. “He was never considered even a mild or moderate risk for suicide,” the therapist said in a treatment summary.

The therapy coincided with a period of intense work in which Bushnell developed insomnia while pulling night shifts at the NSA hub.

His job was to monitor software and network issues, but he also had access to the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System or JWICS, the U.S. government’s secure intranet for the storage of top secret intelligence. Bushnell “had a global area of responsibility,” and grew to dislike serving on the NSA hub’s watch floor, the investigating officer wrote.

The report did not say whether Bushnell raised moral objections to anything he saw.

During his therapy sessions, which were conducted by a civilian, Bushnell focused on his strict upbringing at a religious compound on Cape Cod operated by a Christian sect called the Community of Jesus. A representative for the group declined to comment.

Bushnell and his brother both fell out with the sect, according to witness statements. But “leaving the community that was his home for his whole life was traumatic,” the therapist said.

Bushnell came to think the Air Force mirrored the Community of Jesus. He felt both atmospheres were controlling and demanded conformity, the therapist said.

In February 2023, Bushnell was moved off night shifts for the NSA and seemed happier in a role on the squadron’s innovation team, his peers said. He planned to leave the military and qualified for an internship as a web developer for a company in Akron, Ohio, while remaining on active duty.

The week he left for the internship, Bushnell said he “has blood on his hands” while talking to another airman, who “thought this statement derived from him potentially hearing or seeing something prior to his time with the innovation team which may have scarred him,” the investigator wrote.

Authorities combed through Bushnell’s electronic devices and said they found no evidence he illegally accessed or leaked sensitive information.

‘Your friendly neighbor anarchist’

By late 2023, as Israel’s war on Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks ramped up, Bushnell considered applying for conscientious objector status, but decided against it given his enlistment would end early the next year, a friend told investigators.

Some airmen said that although they knew Bushnell held strong social justice views, evidenced by him offering rides to homeless people and attempting to assist them with job applications, he did not discuss Israel and Palestine. Others said he spoke only in general terms, calling the conflict a “tragedy.”

An Army service member who had known Bushnell since they were toddlers told investigators that Bushnell had “strong pro-Palestine” views. Bushnell appeared more likely to discuss the topic anonymously online through sites like Reddit.

Bushnell had traveled to Israel as a tourist in 2016 when he was 18, according to security clearance forms. And after joining the military, he told friends on Discord that Israel “maintains an apartheid state within its borders, which (Redacted Person) and I got a glimpse of when we visited.”

Investigators who searched Bushnell’s apartment after his death said they found literature covering the history of Israel and anarchist pamphlets, including an essay entitled, “Against the Logic of The Guillotine,” which argued against carrying out “revenge fantasies” on political opponents.

Bushnell was also chided by property managers at his Ohio apartment for handing out flyers that read, “Greetings from your friendly neighbor anarchist.” The flyers invited tenants to a community Discord chat, which focused on apartment maintenance problems.

Though Bushnell held strong political views, the investigating officer wrote, he was a habitual rule-follower: “When offered marijuana by his neighbor, he declined,” the officer wrote. “His friend mentioned his desire to protest at earlier points while expressing that he would not be wearing his uniform, there was no evidence of drug use outside of prescribed medications, and there is no evidence of suspicious behavior or spillage regarding sensitive material.”

The only precipitating event the investigation pointed to was when Bushnell’s internship employer told him in early February 2024 that the company could only offer him part-time work after he left active duty.

Within days, Bushnell updated his military life insurance policy, stopped attending the therapy sessions he had continued going to virtually after leaving Texas, and ignored attempts by his therapist to reach him.

On Feb. 25, Bushnell left copies of a will in his Ohio apartment, in which he apologized to his friends and brother, divvied up his assets, and requested any donations made in his name go to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

Bushnell urged his brother to avoid returning to the Community of Jesus should they approach him, and listed him as the sole beneficiary of his half-a-million-dollar insurance policy.

“I don’t know if they pay out life insurance or death gratuity when you do something like this, but if they do, it’s going to be a lot,” Bushnell wrote in a final message to his brother, who could not be reached for comment. “Something tells me you’ll find some good uses for it.”

Later, Bushnell drove to the Israeli embassy in the North Cleveland Park neighborhood of D.C., set his phone to livestream and said that he would “no longer be complicit in genocide.”

“I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers it is not extreme at all,” Bushnell said. “This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”

Bushnell then lit himself on fire and yelled, “Free Palestine.” He died seven hours later from his burns.

If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the Lifeline network is available 24/7 across the United States. Reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling or texting 988 and you’ll be connected to trained counselors.