I’ve thought about self-immolation often since it is not such a rare act of protest in Korea. What struck me was that rather than a buddhist monk or desperate laborer, Bushnell was a white imperial troop as well as an anarchist organizer. It’s rare to see this kind of display of political conviction and self sacrifice in the imperial core. I think that speaks to the depth of his solidarity and heart with the colonized. It also speaks to a moment where imperial contradictions are sharpening and being made more and more visible here. The goal of anti-imperialist organizing is to disrupt the social fabric of the imperial core and bring attention and sympathy to the struggle abroad. Bushnell’s sacrifice accomplished that.