NEWS / Pending death certificate confirms death of Massachusetts man who self-immolated in front of Israeli consulate

Matthew Nelson, a 45-year-old man from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, who had set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Consulate in Boston on September 11, died 4 days later, according to a death certificate filed with the City of Boston.

Boston’s City Clerk Registry Division indicates that there is a pending death certificate in the name Matthew Nelson confirming the man’s death on September 15.

According to Cape Cod Times, on September 11, Nelson posted a video on YouTube in which he stated that was going to engage in an “extreme act of protest” of “the ongoing genocide in Gaza”.

“We call ourselves the greatest nation in history, yet we spend more on weapons of war than we do on educating our children, helping the homeless, ensuring that all Americans have equal rights and protecting the environment combined,” Nelson stated in the video, as quoted by Cape Cod Times.

Nelson then went on to set himself on fire in front of the Consulate of the State of Israel in Boston. He survived the self-immolation, with Boston police reporting that EMS was responding to someone suffering from severe burn wounds near The Saunders Building, which houses Israel’s Consulate General, around 8:11 pm on September 11. The person, who was still alive at the time, was reportedly taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

According to Nelson’s long-term friend Owen Flood, the man was placed on life support at the hospital. The death certificate confirms his passing on September 15.