Samuel Mena Jr. AZFamily Journalist from Phoenix, Arizona self immolates self protesting Israel settler colonialism and ‘media disinformation’ during Pro Palestine demonstrations only to be fired hours later by his employer after surviving setting his arm on fire at Washington D.C rally.
A self described photo journalist protesting the ongoing crises in Gaza set himself on fire late Saturday afternoon outside the White House during a Pro-Palestine rally.
Samuel Mena Jr. of Phoenix, Arizona, was captured on video lighting himself on fire in Lafayette Park, where a large number of protestors had gathered on Saturday protesting what he decried as Israel’s ongoing agenda of settler colonialism.
Photos and video captured the moment Mena set his left arm on fire, with the demonstrator wailing in pain as he sought to bring ‘attention to the ongoing’ plight in the region, just days before the 1 year anniversary of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that left some 1200 dead and setting off Israel’s armed response and what many decry as Israel’s ‘genocide and ethnic cleansing’ of the area which to date have left at least 41,000 dead within Gaza.
A self immolation attempt at the Washington DC anti Israel protest.
متظاهر يحاول إحراق نفسه في العاصمة واشنطن في مظاهرة ضد العدوان الاسرائيلي pic.twitter.com/zlrs1Booyt— Tarek Abou Ghazala (@tarekmd) October 5, 2024
🇺🇸MAN ATTEMPTS SELF-IMMOLATION NEAR WHITE HOUSE AMID PRO-PALESTINE PROTEST
A male suspect, claiming to be a journalist, attempted to set himself on fire near the White House during a pro-Palestine protest.
Metro DC Police quickly intervened, apprehending the man and securing… pic.twitter.com/EGFIznsY0W
— AN-94 Reports (@an94reports) October 5, 2024
‘We spread the misinformation,’
Mena lit himself on fire in the 800 block of 16th Street just outside of the White House around 5:45 p.m., according to the Washington DC Metropolitan Police.
Video and photos showed police officers ‘cautiously’ approaching the protester as bystanders rushed to pour water on the man in efforts 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. He was taken away in an ambulance with ‘non life threatening injuries’ shortly after according to witnesses.
Despite being in agony, Mena sought to use the process of burning oneself aka self immolation (a form of protest used for political purposes to draw attention to controversial themes) to draw attention to the ongoing conflict and what Mena decried as ‘misinformation,’ prevalent within mainstream media discourse.
‘We spread the misinformation,’ Mena screams at one point in the video as a crowd gathers around him.
‘I’m a journalist, and I said it was okay,’ Mena wailed, as a woman embraces him in video captured by Free Beacon reporter Jessica Costescu.
Visual Journalist posted intent on X hours before self immolation
The self immolation comes just hours after Mena taking to X hours earlier where he declared his intent.
Posted Mena, ‘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.
Mena whose profile describes himself as a ‘Visual storyteller, journalist Graduate, musician, Gamer, Brother and Son, Mexicano’ had also posted ‘End settler colonialism,’ hours before self immolating himself.
In the post the photo-journalist is seen next to a Palestine flag with the words, ‘From the River to the Sea.’
In a lengthy blog posted to his website before the incident on Saturday, Mena questioned the media’s objectivity in its coverage of the war in Gaza.
‘To the 10 thousand children in Gaza that have lost a limb in this conflict, I give my left arm to you,’ he wrote. ‘I pray my voice was able to raise up yours, and that your smiles never disappear.’
AZFamily Journalist fired
On his website, Mena states he is 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.
Just hours after Mena’s self immolation act, the man’s employer, AZFamily published a release stating that he had been fired.
‘Mena worked as a news photographer for KTVK/KPHO but was off duty and not in Washington on station business. Arizona’s Family expects its newsroom employees to conduct themselves with neutrality and objectivity. Mena is no longer an employee.’
Read a statement from the D.C Metropolitan Department hours after the self immolation act: ‘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.
‘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.’
Saturday’s incident comes as protesters demand a ceasefire in the Gaza strip despite both Republican and Democrat political candidates for President, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris insisting that they will continue to side with Israel’s efforts to ‘self defend’ and arm the ‘colonial state’ with arms and munition despite ongoing famine, abject destruction within the area and over 2 million Palestinians since left homeless and no where to go.
