{"id":9936,"date":"2018-04-16T18:23:51","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T12:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pahichan.com\/?p=9936"},"modified":"2018-04-16T18:23:51","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T12:38:51","slug":"famed-gay-rights-lawyer-sets-himself-on-fire-at-prospect-park-in-protest-suicide-against-fossil-fuels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/famed-gay-rights-lawyer-sets-himself-on-fire-at-prospect-park-in-protest-suicide-against-fossil-fuels\/","title":{"rendered":"Famed gay rights lawyer sets himself on fire at Prospect Park in protest suicide against fossil fuels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kathmandu (Pahichan) April 16 – A nationally known advocate for gay rights and the environment died Saturday in a fiery Prospect Park suicide, with his self-immolation meant as a wake-up call to save the planet.<\/p>\n

The charred remains of David Buckel, 60, were discovered shortly after sunrise when firefighters responded to a 6:40 a.m. blaze in the southwest corner of the sprawling Brooklyn park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am David Buckel and I just killed myself by fire as a protest suicide,\u201d read a hand-written suicide note left near the blackened circle of burned grass. \u201cI apologize to you for the mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

A second, longer note \u2014 left with the first inside an envelope marked \u201cFor the police\u201d \u2014 said Buckel doused himself in \u201cfossil fuel\u201d before starting the fatal fire as a metaphor for the destruction of the planet.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy early death by fossil fuel reflects what we are doing to ourselves,\u201d he wrote. \u201cA lifetime of service may best be preserved by giving a life . . . Honorable purpose in life invites honorable purchase in death.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it is an honorable death that might serve others.\u201d<\/p>\n

He compared his macabre demise with the suicides of those who set themselves afire to protest China\u2019s occupation of Tibet.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"David
\n

David Buckel killed himself by lighting himself on fire Saturday in Prospect Park in Brooklyn.<\/h2>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThis is not new, as many have chosen to give a life based on the view that no other action can most meaningfully address the harm they see,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere is a hope that giving a life might bring some attention to the need for expanded actions, and help others give a voice to our home, and Earth is heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early morning joggers and bicyclists spied the burning body as smoke wafted through the air on the year\u2019s first warm spring morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI rode by (the body) several times,\u201d witness Rochelle Krause posted on Twitter. \u201cThe first time I tried to convince myself it was a mannequin. But then the fire department showed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bicyclist Rahmin Pavlovic, 43, of Brooklyn, said Buckel\u2019s choice of location was no coincidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely some kind of statement,\u201d said Pavlovic. \u201cHe did it out in the open, right near the main entrance \u2014 not in some tucked away part of the park.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"David
\n

David Buckel\u2019s suicide notes were left inside an envelope labeled \u201cfor the police\u201d placed inside a garbage bag left inside a shopping cart near the body.<\/h2>\n

(THEODORE PARISIENNE\/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Brooklyn victim was burned from head to toe by the time the FDNY arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were a little freaked out,” said a jogger who stumbled across the remains before the victim\u2019s body was covered with a blue tarp. \u201cIt took us a little while to process it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buckel took pains to make sure first responders knew who he was and what his motives were once they answered the 911 call.<\/p>\n

He stapled his business card to the hand-written note and went into great detail in the second missive \u2014 a neatly typed explanation of his decision to take his own life.<\/p>\n

The envelope holding both notes was placed inside a garbage bag, then left inside a shopping cart near the body.<\/p>\n

\u201cPollution ravages our planet, oozing inhabitability via air, soil, water and weather,\u201d he wrote. \u201cOur present grows more desperate, our future needs more than what we\u2019ve been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"Police
\n

Police closed off a large patch of lawn as bewildered parkgoers began to stream into the park. The man’s death is an apparent suicide, cops said.<\/h2>\n

(THEODORE PARISIENNE\/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Buckel, who lived near the park, was a renowned lawyer and activist who worked with the Marriage Project for the gay civil rights group Lambda Legal.<\/p>\n

He was also a well-known environmental activist, working as the senior organics recovery coordinator with the NYC Compost Project, funded by the city Sanitation Department and based at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe news of David\u2019s death is heartbreaking,\u201d said Camilla Taylor of Lambda Legal. \u201cDavid was an indefatigable attorney and advocate, and also a dedicated and loving friend to so many.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will be remembered for his kindness, devotion, and vision for justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buckel famously served as lead attorney in a lawsuit involving transgender murder victim Brandon Teena, who was raped and then killed in 1993. His story was later told in the movie \u201cBoys Don\u2019t Cry,\u201d starring Hilary Swank as Teena.<\/p>\n

A county sheriff was found negligent in the killing for failing to protect Teena from his rapists \u2014 who returned and killed Teena once he went to authorities.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Officials
\n

Officials investigate the scene and carry away the man’s body inside Prospect Park.<\/h2>\n

(THEODORE PARISIENNE\/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Police closed off a large patch of lawn as bewildered locals began to stream into the park. A plastic ID with Buckel\u2019s name and photo was also recovered at the scene.<\/p>\n

As a proponent of community composting, Buckel worked at the Added Value Red Hook Community Farm and served as senior Organics Recovery Coordinator for the NYC Compost Project.<\/p>\n

The Brooklyn farm location composted 200 tons of organic waste per year.<\/p>\n

The 1987 Cornell Law School graduate argued during his career against the Boy Scout ban on gays and for the establishment of a gay student club at a Utah high school.<\/p>\n

He also helped a Pennsylvania woman win a lawsuit allowing her to place the epitaph \u201cbeloved life partner\u201d on the headstone of her gay partner, and took on the IRS over tax breaks for gay nonprofits.<\/p>\n

Copy :\u00a0http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kathmandu (Pahichan) April 16 – A nationally known advocate for gay rights and the environment died Saturday in a fiery Prospect Park suicide, with his self-immolation meant as a wake-up call to save the planet.
\nThe charred remains of David Buckel, 60, were discovered shortly after sunrise when firefighters responded to a 6:40 a.m. blaze in the southwest corner of the sprawling Brooklyn park.
\n\u201cI am David Buckel and I just killed myself by fire as a protest suicide,\u201d read a hand-written suicide note left near the blackened circle of burned grass. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":9937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[621,490,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-slider","category-world"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9938,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9936\/revisions\/9938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}