Maxwell Azzarello Joined the List of Suicides By Self-Immolation or Starvation As He Died on the Morning After His Self-Immolation

 

This Thursday in New York City we witnessed the ultimate form of protest
Or the predictable result of a mentally ill man whose lack of sanity his acts would suggest?
After three arrests for disruptive acts his conspiracy theories led
And attacks on politicians both Blue and Red
Concern that he was suicidal instead
No help to his mental illness to shed
Outside the NYC Courthouse where the judicial farce known as the Trump “Hush Money Trial” is on center stage
37 year old Maxwell Azzarello after tossing conspiracy pamphlets into the air and dousing himself with a flammable liquid lit himself with a lighter as the fire quickly raged
Shocked bystanders and police were able to extinguish the fire
But the burns were too severe and next morning he died from his self-induced pyre
Was this a noble act like Thích Quảng Đức and other Buddhist monks protesting Diem’s repression?
Or by Norman Morrison in 1965 self-immolating outside the Pentagon protesting our war in Vietnam to seek its suppression?
Or by Bobby Sands and 9 members of the IRA during the Troubles who died from a hunger strike during 1981?
Or by Aaron Bushnell, an active U.S. Air Force serviceman who self-immolated himself in front of the Israeli Embassy less than 3 months before his term of service was done
Who screamed “Free Palestine” then lit himself on fire?
Put out by police in less than a minute but still expired
Death by fire has to be one of the most painful ways to one’s life end
We must encourage other means of protest such that we no longer face this trend

© April 20, 2024 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet