A local Texas politician and vocal COVID-19 vaccine and mask skeptic died from complications of Coronavirus last week, according to th...
A local Texas politician and vocal COVID-19 vaccine and mask skeptic died from complications of Coronavirus last week, according to the mayor of the town he represents.
The death of H. Scott Apley, councilman for the town of Dickinson, a Houston suburb of about 20,000 people, was first announced on Wednesday on the Texas Republican Party's page.
The 45-year-old allegedly died from the virus despite a vast social media presence showing extreme disdain for masks and the COVID-19 vaccine, the town's mayor Sean Skipworth announced on Friday.
In May, Apley wrote: 'I wish I lived in the area!' in response to an Ohio mask-burning party on Facebook. In another post a month earlier, he called a doctor 'an absolute enemy of the people' for recommending people take the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dickinson Texas City Councilman H. Scott Apley who appeared skeptical on social media of mask use and Covid-19 vaccines died this week from complications of the coronavirus
Skipworth denounced the online reaction to the irony in Apley's passing, where commenters have flooded the former councilman's social media pages with quips saying the late Texas official that he should have gotten the jab.
Those who knew Apley say they were mostly unaware of his presence on social media, as critics continue to pile on the commentary.
'I was not really aware of his social media presence,' said Skipworth of Apley's online postings.
'I don't agree with the views that he espoused and the tones that he espoused them in.'
'I wish I lived in the area!' he wrote in response to an Ohio mask-burning party on Facebook
In another post, he called a doctor 'an absolute enemy of the people' for recommending people take the COVID-19 vaccine
Meanwhile, Texas has remained a hotbed of anti-mask and vaccine mandates, with Gov. Greg Abbott and state Democrats going back and forth over 'vaccine passports,' according to NBC News.
As of Saturday, Aug. 7, Texas currently has 3.22 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 53,730 deaths in the Lone Star State alone, making up a large portion of the country's 35,695,469 cases and 616,493 deaths, the New York Times reports.
'I think it's tragic because he leaves behind a wife and young son. My father died when I was very young,' he said.
'There has been a lot of vitriol, and I'm disappointed about that. He and I didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things. But this is not a time for a victory lap.' Skipworth, who says Apley's wife is 'devastated' over his loss, warned of the kind of joyful responses to his death that seem to have permeated American politics in recent years.
'If you say you don't like the tone of people on social media, and then you're doing the same thing after someone dies, it's disheartening,' the mayor added.
'I think that's disturbing for American discourse.'
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