A protestor attempted to self-immolate outside the White House during a Pro-Palestinian rally.
Samuel Mena Jr. was seen trying to light himself on fire in Lafayette Park, where a large number of protestors were gathered on Saturday.
Pictures taken at the scene by the White House capture the harrowing moment Mena’s arm ignited in flames.
Mena, who claims to be a ‘visual storyteller’, was seen waving his burning arm through the air as he shrieked in pain.
A protestor attempted to self-immolate outside the White House during a Pro-Palestinian rally
Samuel Mena Jr. tried to light himself on fire on Saturday in Lafayette Park, where a large number of people were gathered
In the pictures, police officers are seen approaching cautiously as efforts are made to assist him.
Shortly after Mena set his arm ablaze, bystanders rushed to pour water on him to extinguish the flames.
A video that was recorded after the fire was put out shows Mena standing amid a cluster of police officers.
His arm is white and appears to be severely burned.
The journalist can be seen waving his burning arm through the air as he shrieks in pain. In the pictures, police officers cautiously approach Mena
Shortly after Mena set his arm ablaze, bystanders reportedly rushed to pour water on him to extinguish the flames
Amid chilling cries of pain, Mena screamed about ‘misinformation.’
‘I’m a journalist, and I said it was okay,’ he wailed.
Toward the end of the video, which was recorded by Jessica Costescu, a bystander rushes over to Mena and pours some water on his burned arm.
A moment later, a cop shoves him out of the way and screams ‘back it up!’
The shocking act comes just days before the one-year anniversary or Hamas‘ savage surprise attack on Israel, which left 1,200 dead and precipitated an all-out war in Gaza. The war has caused the death of more than 41,000 Palestinians.
He wrote on his website a rambling essay in an attempt to justify his actions, outlining issues he takes with ‘objectivity as it relates to journalism’ over the Gaza war.
He wrote on his website a rambling essay in an attempt to justify his actions, outlining issues he takes with ‘objectivity as it relates to journalism’ over the Gaza war
Mena claims to be a graduate of The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.
He describes himself as a production specialist who is currently ’employed as a Photojournalist for AZFamily Channels 3 and 5.’
Mena also claims to have done freelance videography for Arizona PBS and editing for RightThisMinute. He says that he has ‘collaborated’ on news stories that have aired on PBS Newshour.
His X.com profile is a picture of him smiling in front of the Palestinian Flag with the words ‘from the river, to the sea’ above it.
Before the rally on Saturday, he posted that he would ‘be streaming live from the White House exterior on Instagram.’
In another post on the same day, he wrote: ‘End settler colonialism.’