In February, Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire in protest of the rapidly worsening Palestinian genocide. Since then, public discussions about the efficacy and meaning of self-immolation as a form of protest have begun to circulate. Part of that discussion was the worry that protest would result in copy-cat immolations over time. While the story is developing and the reasons are not clearly understood, a second, potentially related self-immolation has taken place today in New York. From ABC:
A man apparently set himself on fire in a park across the street from the New York City courthouse where former President Donald Trump is on trial…The man was badly burned and taken away from the scene on a stretcher.
It was not immediately clear if the incident was related to Trump’s trial.
The apparent protestor threw flyers in to the sky suggesting that the self-immolation may have been in part a response to NYU:
This sign was found near the scene, but it is unclear who the sign belonged to:
Man Apparently Sets Himself On Fire Outside Courthouse Where Trump Is On Trial [ABC]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
