US lawyer sets himself alight in climate protest

He had burned himself using fossil fuels to symbolise the damage being done to the earth

A prominent US lawyer has died after setting himself on fire in New York as a protest against the damaging effects of fossil fuel.

The remains of 60-year old David Buckel were found in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park with a nearby suicide note suggesting he had burned himself using fossil fuels to symbolise the damage being done to the earth.

The deceased was well known for his legal work on behalf of gay, lesbian and transgender people and had more recently worked with several environmental groups.

A letter emailed to several media publications shortly before his death said: “Pollution ravages our planet, oozing inhabitability via air, soil, water and weather. My early death by fossil fuel reflects what we are doing to ourselves.”

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