Richard Rose Port Clinton Ohio man dies from COVID-19 after refusing to wear mask, with avid Donald Trump supporter & former vet insisting it was all hype on Facebook.
A 37-year-old Port Clinton, Ohio man who claimed the coronavirus pandemic was just ‘hype’ and repeatedly refused to wear a face mask has died from COVID-19.
Richard Rose, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, wrote on Facebook on July 1 that he was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, and went to get tested.
The U.S. Army veteran, who’d served nine years and did two tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, tested positive.
Four days later on the 4th of July, Rose fatally succumbed and was declared dead according to an obituary.
Rose in recent weeks had repeatedly downplayed the seriousness of the virus.
‘I am in no way Racist’
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!!’
He accompanied the text with a screenshot of Trump vowing to ‘crack down’ on Black Lives Matter protesters in Minneapolis, after the death of George Floyd, and Trump referring to them as ‘thugs’.
The previous day, he wrote a post criticizing Black Lives Matter and describing the movement as ‘a joke’.
‘I’m going to catch a lot of hell for this one, but let me start this off by saying I am in no way Racist and I support PEACEFUL protesting to get your point across,’ he wrote.
‘You want to know why#BlackLivesMatter movement is a joke?
‘You all start throwing that hashtag around then start burning down buildings, killing shop owners, and looting buildings. You are ruining people’s lives by doing this. You are being SELFISH in your THEFT.
‘This is why we don’t take your movement seriously. Start acting like you want change and maybe people would listen.’
‘I’m not buying a f**king mask. I’ve made it this far by not buying into that damn hype.’
On April 28 that the pandemic was just ‘hype’.
‘Let make this clear,’ he wrote, in a post that was shared 10,000 times.
‘I’m not buying a f**king mask. I’ve made it this far by not buying into that damn hype.’
On May 12, Rose posted: ‘I’ve gotten sick of turning my tv on to political smear ads and shit about COVID.
‘So yesterday I turned my cable box in.
‘I’ve also started snoozing people on here. It’s time to block out negativity.’
‘I should know soon what the results are….’
Leading up to his death, Rose shared updates about his health, writing on July 1: ‘I’ve been very sick the past few days.
‘Symptoms of Covid-19. This morning I finally got swabbed. I should know soon what the results are. I just want to feel good again!’
Later that day he revealed that he had tested positive for the virus.
‘Well. I’m officially under quarantine for the next 14 days,’ he wrote.
‘I just tested positive for COVID-19. Sucks because I had just started a new job!’
He died two days later.
Nick Conley, Rose’s friend, told Cleveland 19 that everyone was ‘blown away’ by Rose’s death.
‘You hear about this virus and you don’t expect it to affect people, younger people like ourselves,’ Conley told the media outlet.
Conley met Rose through a shared love of video games.
This is NOT to mock a covid death, it’s a warning. What Richard Rose REALLY fell victim to was willful ignorance. I’m a long haul survivor. I was masked & gloved but the pos who infected me wasn’t. Had Richard been careful, he might still be alive. Pride goeth before a fall… pic.twitter.com/xl8aoIla0T
— Stephanie Beekeeper (⧖) (@SBeekeeper) July 10, 2020
Science vs rhetoric
In his obituary, his family say he enjoyed social media, online streaming, paranormal and his two cats Dale and Tucker.
Rose was a fan of NASCAR, Dirt Track Racing and Georgia Bulldogs Football.
‘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.
Rose’s final post, the day before he died, read: ‘When you see me in heaven don’t s**** yourselves you judgmental pricks.’
‘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.’
‘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.’
Ohio has reported more than 65,000 confirmed cases with at least 3,063 deaths.
The state reported a single-day record of 1,525 newly reported coronavirus cases on Friday.
