Not to invite ridicule and scorn, but curious what people think. A "lawyer nationally known for being a champion of gay rights died after setting himself on fire in Prospect Park in Brooklyn early Saturday morning exhorting people to lead less selfish lives as a way to protect the planet."

David Buckel, the attorney, left a note in a shopping cart near his smoldering body which read, in part:

“Pollution ravages our planet, oozing inhabitability via air, soil, water and weather,” he wrote in the email sent to The Times. “Most humans on the planet now breathe air made unhealthy by fossil fuels, and many die early deaths as a result — my early death by fossil fuel reflects what we are doing to ourselves.”

He was known, in part, for his work as lead attorney in "Brandon v. County of Richardson, in which a Nebraska county sheriff was found liable for failing to protect Brandon Teena, a transgender man who was murdered in Falls City, Neb. Hilary Swank won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Mr. Teena in the 1999 movie 'Boys Don’t Cry.'"

One person, walking nearby with his wife and daughter had this to say:

“How do you do that to yourself? It’s a terrible way to go, and I don’t want to think about it after today."

My question is this. Does ending your life in this particular fashion negatively impact how you will be remembered or does it solidly people's thoughts of you as being one of strong conviction? I fall in the former category thinking this only leads me to believe depression and other factors were at play. I don't find this to be noble nor do I even seriously associate it with his stated purpose of illuminating environmental damage caused by humans. To me, this is not remotely close to a Tibetan monk who self-immolates as a protest to war. I feel the man was sick, this will be detrimental to how people view those advocating for gay rights and was perhaps utterly selfish by leaving this spectacle for innocent observers to deal with. He did, at least, apologize for the mess in his note.

Any thoughts?

https:// www.nytimes.com/2018/04/14/nyregion/david-buckel-dead-fire.html

>>1050027

Is that just a suscpition or has there been any allegations made? Sauce? I think we should refrain from making those types of allegations unless there's evidence to support it. I don't know this guy, never heard of him, but would argue the same for anyone.

>>1050034

I'm with you…a lot of contradictions on this one. He also probably scarred a few onlookers too. I once came upon a scene where a paranoid-psy had just killed himself by fire in the middle of the road. The cops had put a sheet over his body, but the wind blew it off. Has been thirty years and remember as if yesterday.

>>1050038

Agree. The brain is in some type of mode for sure. Virginia Woolf weighed down her blouse with stones and walked into the water to drown. How do you fight your body's auto-response for air?

>>1050069

I can't argue with your theory. I was a little less conspiratorial on it though, thinking he and his 'partner' (partner is mentioned in said article), had a breakup and he was downtrodden or whatever.

>>1050077

Yeah…would be the LAST method I would ever chose…toss-up with drowning. What was wrong with an od or a quick shot to the head?

>>1050103

Good points. He certainly could have used his skill-set to join another cause. As to what may have been discovered about his background, we may never learn…though again, your speculation makes sense if true.