Just after noon today in downtown Atlanta a lone woman draped herself in a Palestinian flag, poured gasoline on herself and then set herself on fire. The incident took place outside a building that holds an Israeli Consulate. Police later said it appeared to be a desperate act of political protest.

A protester is in critical condition after setting themselves on fire in an apparent “political protest” outside an Israeli Consulate office in Atlanta, police said.

The protester was outside a building that’s home to businesses including the Israeli Consulate on Friday afternoon when a security guard noticed the individual was attempting to set themselves on fire, Atlanta police said at a news conference.

The security guard tried to stop the protester, but both the guard and protester suffered burns and have been hospitalized, police said.

Here’s a news report on the situation.

JUST IN: A pro-Palestine protester is in critical condition after they set themselves on fire in "political protest" outside of the Israeli Consulate office in Atlanta.

The protester was reportedly draped in a Palestine flag.

The protester has severe burns and unfortunately, a… pic.twitter.com/B8nUQAj2nU

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 1, 2023

There was no protest proceeding this and the woman apparently made no attempt to enter the building. Police made clear there was no connection to terrorism. She wasn’t trying to harm anyone else, just herself. She is said to be in critical condition at a local hospital after being fully engulfed in flames, leaving her with burns to 100% of her body. The Palestinian flag she brought, or some portion of it, was left at the scene.

Obviously self-immolation is a very extreme form of protest as the person involved usually dies. The consulate released a statement labeling it a response to hate and incitement toward Israel.

“We are saddened to learn of the self-immolation at the entrance to the office building,” the consul general of Israel to the southeastern U.S., Anat Sultan-Dadon, told ABC News. “It is tragic to see the hate and incitement toward Israel expressed in such a horrific way. The sanctity of life is our highest value.”

The consulate is right that this is horrific. The security guard is probably going to need lots of therapy to go with whatever medical treatment he receives for the burns he suffered trying to stop this woman. Is it fair to blame this on “hate and incitement toward Israel?” I guess that’s possible but we don’t really know what was going through this person’s mind so, for now, that’s a bit of a leap.

Most people would never consider an act this extreme no matter how strongly they feel about an issue. Like a suicide bombing or other violent attack, it’s not the sort of thing you could be easily talked into doing without going down a pretty intense path of radicalization first. Hopefully we’ll learn more about what motivated this person over time. For now they are not releasing a name, age or even sex, though some reports have identified her as a woman.

Finally, here’s the police press conference about the incident from earlier this afternoon.

Woman in critical condition after setting herself on fire in protest for Palestine outside the Israel consulate in Atlanta Georgia earlier today. pic.twitter.com/qYAn2jBokj

— charmane harbert ✝️ 🇺🇸 (@callme_Chari) December 2, 2023