Wynn Alan Bruce, 50, of Boulder, Colorado, United States lit himself on fire in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., USA at around 6:30 p.m. on April 22, 2022. It was the 52nd Earth Day and he was reportedly protesting against the climate crisis.

The U.S. Supreme Court Police, the US Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department responded to the incident and police officers tried to calm Bruce while he was screaming. The Boulder resident suffered critical burns and was the only one injured in the incident.

Medical helicopter rushed Bruce to a hospital in Washington, D.C. where he died on April 23, 2022. A motive for his self-immolation has yet to be determined.

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Bruce is the son of Douglas A. Bruce Jr. and Holly Estes Bruce. On May 14, 2004, Wynn’s grandfather Douglas A. Bruce Sr. died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA at the age of 93.

Wynn was a photojournalist and a climate activist. Before moving to Boulder, he lived in Denver, Colorado; in Bloomington, Minnesota; in Portland, Oregon, USA and in Salem, Oregon.

From 2011 to 2014, Bruce attended Front Range Community College in Westminster, Colorado. He also went to the Community College of Denver in Denver. 

Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The city is 40km northwest of Denver.

Incorporated on November 4, 1871, Boulder became the first city in the U.S. to levy a carbon tax in 2007. Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra, 63, and “Sex and the City” star Kristin Davis, 57, were both born in the city.