Prominent US lawyer dies after setting himself on fire in protest against pollution

WASHINGTON: A prominent American lawyer has died after setting himself on fire at a New York park to protest damage being done to the planet, according to US media reports.

David Buckel, 60, was pronounced dead after he self-immolated at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park early on Saturday, the New York Times reported.

In a suicide note emailed to the newspaper and several other media outlets, Buckel wrote that he had used fossil fuel to symbolize what was happening to the planet.

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“Pollution ravages our planet, oozing inhabitability via air, soil, water and weather,” the note said.

“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.”

The New York Times quoted friends of Buckel as saying that he became involved in environmental causes after leaving Lambda Legal.

His suicide note expressed the hope that his death would serve as a call to action.

“Honorable purpose in life invites honorable purpose in death,” Buckel wrote.