- Richard “Rick” Rose, a 37-year-old man from Port Clinton, Ohio, recently died at his home from complications due to COVID-19.
- Rose’s death has attracted attention online due to his Facebook posts, in which he expressed doubt about coronavirus safety directives.
- “Let make this clear. I’m not buying a f—ing mask. I’ve made it this far by not buying into that damn hype,” he posted on April 28.
- Throughout June, Rose “checked in” on Facebook at bars and restaurants in Ohio. On July 1, he wrote that he was experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
- Rose’s family told a local outlet he tested positive for COVID-19 that same day and died on July 3.
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Richard Rose, a 37-year-old man from Port Clinton, Ohio, recently died from coronavirus after slamming “hype” about the pandemic on Facebook.
Rose’s 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.
Rose’s death has attracted attention online due to his public Facebook posts, in which he voiced support for President Donald Trump, criticized Black Lives Matter protesters, made jokes about rape, and accused Democrats of spreading false information about the pandemic in order to “rig the elections in their favor.”
A tweet compiling a slideshow of Rose’s posts, asking people to “watch how this unfolds,” has garnered nearly 150,000 likes.
“Let make this clear. I’m not buying a f—ing mask. I’ve made it this far by not buying into that damn hype,” Rose posted on April 28.
On May 12, he wrote that he was “sick” of seeing “s— about COVID” and on May 18, he posted an Islamaphobic meme that compared a niqab to a medical mask.
Throughout June, Rose “checked in” on Facebook at bars and restaurants in Ohio.
On July 1, Rose wrote on Facebook that he was experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
“I’ve been very sick the past few days,” he wrote. “This morning I finally got swabbed. I should know soon what the results are. I just want to feel good again!”
Just one hour later, Rose revealed that he’d officially tested positive.
“Well. I’m officially under quarantine for the next 14 days,” he wrote.
The following day, Rose wrote, “This covid s— sucks! I’m so out of breath just sitting here.”
“We were blown away, you know? You hear about this virus and you don’t expect it to affect people, younger people like ourselves,” said Nick Conley, Rose’s friend, told Cleveland 19 News.
“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,” Conley said.
He also, however, expressed regret that Rose’s Facebook posts were circulating online.
“Rick is getting slaughtered online right now for his decision that he made not to wear a mask and that’s not right,” Conley said. “We should still be compassionate whether we agree with someone’s beliefs or not. Someone has passed away and we should have some compassion towards that.”
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