Boston Man Sets Himself on Fire outside Israeli Consulate in Protest against War on Gaza

A man set himself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Boston, Massachusetts on September 11. A video posted to YouTube on Friday revealed the man’s identity as Matt Nelson. In the clip, Nelson said, "My name is Matt Nelson and I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest. We are all culpable in the ongoing genocide in Gaza."

Nelson’s self-immolation is one of three such acts in the US since October 7, all in protest against Israel’s war on Gaza. In December 2023, an unnamed woman set herself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, while in February, Aaron Bushnell, a US Air Force member, self-immolated in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.

Pro-Palestine activist Zoe, who first shared Nelson’s video online, said, “People are literally being massacred. People are burning themselves alive. People are fighting to the death.”

Several eyewitnesses attempted to extinguish the flames engulfing Nelson, according to NBC10 Boston.

In another incident in Newton, a suburb of Boston, authorities charged 47-year-old Scott Hayes with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and violating a constitutional right causing injury after he shot a passerby who allegedly taunted and charged at a group carrying Israeli flags during a protest on Thursday evening.

A video posted by The Daily Wire shows a man across the street from the pro-Israel protest shouting, “You are sick. You are defending genocide.” The footage then shows the man running towards the group and tackling Hayes, who was later identified as the shooter. Two other protesters attacked the man, with one stomping on his chest and another stepping on his face. At some point during the altercation, a gunshot can be faintly heard.

The recent protests have heightened attention on the US government’s role in funding Israel, with many demonstrators calling for an end to American support for the Israeli genocidal war.