A man who identified himself as a “journalist” and “visual storyteller” attempted to set fire to himself during a Saturday pro-Palestinian protest outside the White House.
Images and videos on X captured a chaotic scene as the man, thought to be Samuel Mena Jr., lit his arm in Lafayette Park, where a large number of protesters were gathered. Bystanders and police officers rushed in to put out the flames as Mena screamed in pain.
“I’m a journalist, and I said it was OK,” Mena can be heard screaming in one of the videos. In the immediate aftermath of the fire being extinguished, Mena’s arm appeared badly burned.
On his X profile, Mena appeared to tease his participation in the protest, writing on Saturday, “I will be streaming live from the White House exterior on instagram live in 30 minutes. The first 30 minutes will be spent doing tech trouble shooting, and I will give a speech in an hour from now. @SamuelMenaJr.”
Hours before that, he tweeted, “End settler colonialism,” including a picture of him smiling in front of the Palestinian flag.
According to Mena’s profile, he is a graduate of The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, and currently “employed as a Photojournalist for AZFamily Channels 3 and 5” as a production assistant.
