by Amna El Tawil
An anti-Trump protester set himself on fire on Tuesday evening as an “act of protest” against the incoming president. The footage (seen below) captured by NBC4DC’s Shomari Stone, shows a man setting himself on fire in the street in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
“I was trying to light myself on fire as an act of protest,” the protester said.
Asked for an explanation, the man said he is “protesting the fact that we’ve elected somebody who’s completely incapable of respecting the Constitution of the United States.”
NEW VIDEO #BREAKING:
Man says Trump is a dictator. He tried to light himself on fire at #TrumpInternationalHotel for #TrumpInauguration pic.twitter.com/laJDUPepO6— Shomari Stone (@shomaristone) January 18, 2017
He also called Trump a “dictator.”
The man is believed to be from California, he’s in the hospital and according to Daily Mail he suffered non-life-threatening burns and should be okay.
The man suffered third-degree burns on 10 percent of his body. He had used a lighter and accelerant to start the fire. Authorities said they were called to the hotel after receiving a report of a person ‘in distress’. A bypasser said it was not initially clear what the man was protesting when he set fire to items of clothing in the street outside the hotel. ‘He set himself on fire and as flames ran up his back he yelled Trump several times then lay down in the street.