WTF? Man Sets Self on Fire @ Washington DC Great Mall

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Witnesses told NBC Washington's Mark Segraves they saw a man pouring gasoline on himself, then possibly setting himself on fire. Several joggers nearby ripped their shirts off in an attempt to subdue the flames.

The man was airlifted to a local hospital. No word yet on his condition, although the Associated Press is reporting he suffered life-threatening injuries.

The incident comes a day after Capitol Police shot and killed an unarmed woman following a high-speed chase that started outside the White House, where she had tried to ram a gate with her car, and ended near the Capitol. Nearly three weeks ago, a man opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 people.

Tensions in the nation's capital are already high, as Congress works through the fourth day of the first government shutdown in 17 years.

Strange Days indeed:





Have a nice weekend...



ADG

[Phoenix]

Things are heating up over there hope it works out.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Things are heating up over there hope it works out.

ADG

[digitaldivas]

yah, the whole state of things politically is pretty fucking sad :/

[winter_]

i think it is true, you can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time.

[crockett]

The longer this drags on the more people are going to go over the edge. There are a hell of a lot of people whom aren't even govt employees whom are not working due to the shutdown. Many of those people can not afford to have morons in congress playing games with their employment.

I would be surprised if we don't see a shooting or two over this, if it drags on very long.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

WASHINGTON -- A man lit himself on fire Friday just outside the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall, prompting a group of bystanders to put out the blaze with their shirts, witnesses said.

The man, who has not been identified, was taken by helicopter to an area hospital.

When D.C. resident Nicole Didyk approached the scene, she said she saw "flames on the Mall. ... Not like shooting flames, but the grass was on fire."

Didyk said she saw four or five men with their shirts off, using the clothing to beat out flames that were engulfing a man?s body. The men putting out the fire were passersby, she said, and one of them told her that the man had "saluted the Capitol and then lit himself on fire."

ADG

[CAHEK]

[oppoten]

[SilentKnight]

"Flame on!"

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

ADG

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Looks like it's about time to queue up you know who...

In a bizarre act that capped a nervous few days in Congress, a man poured gasoline on himself and lit himself on fire on the National Mall late Friday afternoon.

Flames and smoke from the self-immolating man near 7th Street and Jefferson Drive, SW, were visible from the Capitol, where some staffers watched the scene from west facing windows, just a day after a car chase that ended with the shooting death of a woman just outside the Hart Senate Office Building.

The incident happened at about 4:30 p.m. on Friday in between the Air and Space Museum and the National Gallery. Passing joggers rushed to the man's aid, several ripping off their shirts to help beat out the flames that burned 80% of his body, ABC reports.

"I'm not aware of any signage or any articulation of any causes," said Lt. Pamela Smith of the U.S. Park Police, which has teamed up with the D.C. police department.
Tommy Hess, a tourist visiting his brother, said he was on the Mall, "milling around, because everything is closed due to the shutdown."

"I never expected to see anything like that," Hess said. "It's crazy."

Katy Scheflen, a furloughed civil rights attorney in the Justice Department, said she stopped because she saw "a guy with a tripod set up."

Scheflen said another man, who she thought the tripod with a camera was filming, then took a red can of gasoline, poured it over his head.

"At that point we didn't know what was going, maybe it was some sort of stage protest," Scheflen said. "And then he set himself on fire and went up in flames," she said. "Whoosh."

ADG

[RyuLion]

Weak minded = suicidal because of this strong belief = The only reason why he gets up from bed.

[Seth Manson]

[alias]

Only one man?

Not very impressive really.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

If it was a protest, that guy fails, because so far it appears he went down in flames for nothing (as if there is a good reason)...



Everybody just chill the fuck out...





ADG

[izombie]

He was upset that Breaking Bad had ended.

[Just Alex]

South Koreans do it all the time.
Should've let him go - 80% of his body. Poor guy

[JockoHomo]

And so it begins...

[Rochard]

You just got to be mentally insane to set yourself on fire like that.

[globofun]

America, Fuck Yeah!

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Someone is going to have to be pretty creative/looney to top the mentally ill cases that have lost it in Washington over the past few weeks, from the Navy Shipyard shooter, to yesterday's shooting of a wild driver near the Capitol, and now to this afternoon's self-immolation...









ADG

[winter_]

oh its just the same shit.

[_Richard_]

damn immolation in washington dc?

apparently this has a strange and rather vast affect on the psyche of the entire area

for example, it was one case of immolation that sparked the entire arab spring

[seeandsee]

must be to forget abotu obama syria fail and shity care

[L-Pink]

What a way to test Obama care.

[EonBlue]

Another one to add to the list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...lf-immolations

[SilentKnight]

Hope he used GasBuddy.com to get the best pricing.

Curious minds want to know - did he use regular, midgrade or premium?

[The Sultan Of Smut]

Originally Posted by _Richard_

damn immolation in washington dc?

apparently this has a strange and rather vast affect on the psyche of the entire area

for example, it was one case of immolation that sparked the entire arab spring

Very true.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

I'm surprised that there is little update on this story almost a day later.

Given the nature and the extent of the injuries, I would be surprised if the man has not succumbed already.

What is more surprising however, is that there is no indication yet about who the person that self-immolated was, and more importantly why he did it (not that there is much justification for such an act in my mind - at least he didn't take out other people along with himself).

Since self-immolation is usually done as a political act of martyrdom, and it was reported that the person that doused himself in gasoline and set himself ablaze may have had an accomplice filming the act (although their have been no other reports about a 2nd person questioned/detained by the police - and one has to suspect that there were likely some surveillance cameras near the National Mall which would have caught what happened in the minutes leading up to this act).

Katy Scheflen, a furloughed civil rights attorney in the Justice Department, said she stopped because she saw "a guy with a tripod set up."

Scheflen said another man, who she thought the tripod with a camera was filming, then took a red can of gasoline, poured it over his head.

"At that point we didn't know what was going, maybe it was some sort of stage protest," Scheflen said. "And then he set himself on fire and went up in flames," she said. "Whoosh."

Scheflen said the presence of a mounted camera gave her the impression "he was aware something was about to happen. Otherwise he was filming nothing but a guy standing there."

"It was obviously an intentional act," she said. "Somebody has a video of the whole thing."

Scheflen said the man may have said something beforehand “but it was nothing intelligible.”

As political statements go, this one is a big fail so far.

UPDATE: Reports are coming out this hour that the person has died, however no further details about Who and Why...



ADG

[onwebcam]

I'd lay money on this guy being an Obama voter.

[L-Pink]

Originally Posted by onwebcam

I'd lay money on this guy being an Obama voter.

I knew there was a White House connection. We're supposed to be happy with a health care program from Obama when he can't even control someone that might have voted for him!

[onwebcam]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

I knew there was a White House connection. We're supposed to be happy with a health care program from Obama when he can't even control someone that might have voted for him!

Hell they can't even run a website. 5 days now and you still get this

[pornguy]

Originally Posted by crockett

The longer this drags on the more people are going to go over the edge. There are a hell of a lot of people whom aren't even govt employees whom are not working due to the shutdown. Many of those people can not afford to have morons in congress playing games with their employment.

I would be surprised if we don't see a shooting or two over this, if it drags on very long.

But the morons in the government dont care. they are still getting paid.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Officials have identified the man who died after setting fire to himself last week on the National Mall as John Constantino, 64, of Mount Laurel, N.J.

Constantino poured gasoline on his body and ignited it Friday afternoon while sitting on the mall. Passersby used their clothing to try to put out the flames. He was eventually airlifted to a hospital, where he died later that night.

Constantino "had burns so severe that authorities needed to use DNA and dental records to identify him," The Associated Press reports. "District of Columbia police spokesman Paul Metcalf in an emailed statement confirmed his identity."

No messages or signs stating a reason for the shocking act were visible on the mall, according to authorities and witnesses. And in a statement released last night, Constantino's family says that a clear motive may never emerge.

In a statement released through an attorney, according to The Washington Post, the family said Constantino's death "was not a political act or statement, but the result of a long battle with mental illness." The AP received the same statement, in which family members called Constantino a "loving father and husband."

The family also said that they "would like to acknowledge the heroism of the paramedics and bystanders who attempted to save his life."

The incident, which occurred in plain view of the Capitol, occurred a day after a fatal car chase that began at the White House and ended at a guardhouse leading to the Capitol. The woman who was shot to death in that episode had also struggled with mental health issues, her family and other sources said.

Strange end to a bizarre and sad tale.



ADG