Bystanders and police at a demonstration in support of Gaza leaped into action when a protester set his left arm ablaze outside the White House.
The protester, identified in several media reports as Samuel Mena Jr., who describes himself as a journalist and “story teller,” began shrieking in pain after he set his arm alight Saturday in Lafayette Park as stunned officers and observers rushed to help, which was captured graphic video clips (warning: scenes are disturbing.)
Some people doused him with water while others beat out the flames with anything on hand. Once the flames were extinguished, he was restrained by police as he shouted that he was a journalist.
“We spread the misinformation,” he screams at one point in a video amid a crowd.
“I’m a journalist and I said it was okay,” he yells.
The day of the protest Mena posted a lengthy essay on his web site about what he sees as a failure of journalism to reveal the truth. He complained that the media is locked in a misleading “both-siderism” perspective, or treating lies and truth, good and evil the same in a dangerous false equivalency under the veil of objectivity.
After the flames were extinguished, police rushed the protester to a local hospital, where he was treated for non-threatening injuries, according to officials.
“The District of Columbia has a long and proud history of peaceful First Amendment activities and the Metropolitan Police Department handles hundreds of protests, demonstrations and other events every year,” District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith said in a statement.
“We will continue to support those who choose to protest peaceful and safely, and we will continue to hold accountable those who commit criminal acts while in our city.”
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