Protestor sets self on fire outside Israeli consulate in Atlanta

Investigators are gathering details on what they’re calling “an act of extreme political protest” after an unidentified person set themself aflame on Friday outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta.

According to Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, who spoke at a news conference on the matter at the start of the weekend, a Palestinian flag was found at the scene, which he believes was part of the protest that left the individual in critical condition and also caused an intervening security guard to be injured as well, receiving burns on his wrist and leg. Per AP News‘ coverage of the event, “investigators did not believe there was any connection to terrorism and none of the consular staff was ever in danger.”

As of Saturday morning, the protester’s name, age and gender have not been made public, but it has been disclosed that they apparently set up outside the building in the city’s midtown neighborhood on Friday afternoon and used gasoline as an accelerant, as reported by AP News after speaking with Atlanta Fire Chief Roderick Smith.