The man was identified as Wynn Bruce, 50, of Boulder, Colorado. No one else was injured, authorities say.
WASHINGTON — A man dies after setting himself on fire outside the United States Supreme Court building on Friday.
Emergency medical teams were called to the Supreme Court around 6:30 pm after a man set himself on fire outside the building. Police said Saturday that the man, Wynn Bruce, 50, of Boulder, Colorado, had died, the Associated Press reported.
Areas around the Supreme Court building were closed for hours Friday night after the incident, which Supreme Court Police say occurred in the plaza in front of the building on One First Street NE. The US Capitol Police tweeted that a medical helicopter landed for an emergency that was “not a public safety issue.”
No indication has been given as to what led up to the incident. Supreme Court police, US Capitol police and DC police responded, with Supreme Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe saying no one else was hurt.
Parts of First Street and East Capitol were closed to the airlift, and McCabe said the area was closed for further investigation.
Self-immolation, the act of setting yourself on fire and burning to death, can be a form of protest and has been used to make political statements in the nation’s capital in the past. It is not clear if Friday’s incident was intended as a statement of protest.
In May 2019, a man died after setting himself on fire near the White House. Authorities said Arnav Gupta, 33, of Bethesda, was seen by bystanders at the Ellipse, engulfed in flames. No motive was uncovered in that incident, but his family reported Gupta missing just hours earlier and expressed concern for his physical and emotional well-being. The officers extinguished Gupta and took him to a hospital for treatment, but he died from his injuries.
In April of that same year, the Secret Service reported that a man in a power wheelchair set his jacket on fire while sitting on Pennsylvania Avenue outside the north fence of the White House. Authorities said they responded immediately and put out the fire.
In November 2004, a Yemeni citizen named Mohamed Alanssi set himself on fire outside a White House door. He had worked as an FBI informant, previous reports show, and was upset that he couldn’t travel to Yemen to visit his sick wife, who had stomach cancer. He also said that the FBI had not followed through on promises it made to secure his assistance. Alanssi had severe burns on more than 30% of his body, the Washington Post reported at the time.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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Reference-www.wusa9.com