July 17, 2020
'I'm Not Buying a F---ing Mask' Trump Supporter Dies of COVID-19
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A Donald Trump supporter who posted on social media that the dangers of COVID-19 were "a lot of hype" died from complications of the virus, Richard Rose, 37, from Port Clinton, Ohio died on July 4 his family "told Cleveland CBS affiliate 19 News the US Army veteran died at home on July 3, just three days after testing positive for COVID-19," wrote the Insider.
Rose had been very public in the past few months of his support of the president and his belief that concern over the virus was all "hype." He also posted criticism of Black Lives Matters protesters, claimed Michelle Obama was a man, believed there are only "two genders," and made numerous Islamophobic comments.
A slide show of his posts has since gone viral.
In a post made on April 28 (shared by more than 100,000), he wrote: "Let make this clear, I'm not buying a fucking mask. I've made it this far by not buying into that damn hype."
On May 12, he wrote that he was "sick" of seeing "shit about COVID" and on May 18, he posted an Islamophobic meme that compared a niqab to a medical mask.
On May 29 he posted: "I stand by my President and his words. It's finally time to have a President who has our backs. I'm glad to call him MY PRESIDENT!!"
And over the month of June, Rose "checked in" on Facebook at bars and restaurants in Ohio.
But when he began feeling sick in early July, the US Army veteran, who spent nine years in the US Army and completed two tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, he had a test for the virus.
"I just want to feel good day," he wrote.
When he got his test results later that day, he wrote: 'Well. I'm officially under quarantine for the next 14 days,' he wrote.
On July 2, he wrote: "This covid shit sucks! I am so out of breath just sitting here."
The following day, he posted a grim comment aimed at his critics: "When you see me in heaven don't s**t yourselves you judgmental pricks."
The next day he died.
"Nick Conley, Rose's friend, told Cleveland 19 that everyone was 'blown away' by Rose's death," reported the Daily Mail.
"You hear about this virus and you don't expect it to affect people, younger people like ourselves," Conley told the station. "Rick is getting slaughtered online right now for his decision that he made not to wear a mask and that's not right.
"We should still be compassionate whether we agree with someone's beliefs or not," he added. Someone has passed away and we should have some compassion towards that.
"It's horrible that we lost Rick, but the even more tragic part of that is who else became infected because of the actions that he chose," his friend concluded.
