Climate activist, Wynn Bruce, has passed away from his injuries after setting himself on fire outside of the Supreme Court on Earth Day.
Fifty-year-old Bruce, a Buddhist from Colorado, had been airlifted to the nearest hospital after the incident with critical burns, however succumbed to his injuries a day later.
#Breaking: Just in – Video of the police on the scene near the Supreme Court building in Washington #DC, showing you and hearing the sounds of a person screaming in agony after he set himself on fire, and after the fire was extinguished by police officers. #US pic.twitter.com/Xpkee02BC7
— Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@sotiridi) April 22, 2022
Law enforcement has yet to announce his motives, although back in 2020, Bruce had shared a link to an online class about climate change on Facebook — and returned to the post last year commenting “4/22/2022” with a fire emoji.
On March 28, Wayne wrote on Facebook, “this is not humor. It is all about breathing.”
A friend of the Bruce and Boulder-based Buddhist priest Sensei Kritee Kanko posted about the climate activist’s death on Twitter, stating the incident was “not suicide.”
“This guy was my friend. He meditated with our sangha. This act is not suicide. This is a deeply fearless act of compassion to bring attention to climate crisis. We are piecing together info but he had been planning it for atleast one year. #wynnbruce I am so moved,” Kanko wrote.
This guy was my friend. He meditated with our sangha. This act is not suicide. This is a deeply fearless act of compassion to bring attention to climate crisis. We are piecing together info but he had been planning it for atleast one year. #wynnbruce I am so moved. https://t.co/bHoRaLK6Fr
— Dr. K. Kritee (@KriteeKanko) April 24, 2022
Lighting oneself on fire has long been considered the most extreme form of protest, with many claiming that it is “non-violent,” as the person will typically make sure no one else is harmed — including the 14th Dalai Lama.
“I think the self-burning itself on practice of non-violence. These people, you see, they [could instead] easily use bomb explosive, more casualty people. But they didn’t do that. Only sacrifice their own life. So this also is part of practice of non-violence,” the Dalai Lama said in 2013, according to a report from ABC News.
Other previous acts of self-immolation include in 1965, Norman Morrison lit himself on fire outside the Pentagon to protest the war in Vietnam and then in 2017, a man lit himself on fire outside of Trump Hotel to protest the election of former President Donald Trump.
“I was trying to light myself on fire as an act of protest,” the man told NBC News at the time. ” Protesting the fact that we’ve elected someone who is completely incapable of respecting the Constitution of the United States.”
Another incident occurred back in 2019: a man on an electric scooter lit himself on fire outside the White House and survived, though his motive was never revealed.
A man in a wheelchair-type electric scooter lit his jacket on fire outside the White House fence on Friday and was hospitalized with what appeared to be non-life threatening injuries, the U.S. Secret Service said. pic.twitter.com/DMwJV0sL12
— Srbija Evropa (@srbija_eu) April 12, 2019
Then, only one month later, another man was seen lighting himself on fire outside of the White House. He did not survive.
A man lit himself on fire outside of the White House
Warning: This video contains graphic content pic.twitter.com/93HGmTLg8n
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) May 29, 2019
The practice of self-immolation has been around for centuries and is considered a valid and important form of protest by some who follow Mahayana Buddhism and Hinduism.
