A Denver sheriff’s deputy, Daniel “Duke” Trujillo, 33, died on Wednesday from complications of COVID-19 after sharing anti-vaccine sentiments on Facebook.
Trujillo was the second deputy who worked at the city’s Downtown Detention Center to have died of the disease in two weeks. The Downtown Detention Center has had an active COVID-19 outbreak since April 2020. The Denver Sheriff Department website reported 11 active cases at the detention center as of Thursday.
Sheriff’s deputies and other first responders have had access to vaccines since January in the first wave of eligible recipients. However, the shots were not mandatory and the department does not track who receives vaccines due to privacy concerns.
Trujillo posted comments about mask wearing and the vaccine to his Facebook page, one with the heading, “I don’t care if you’ve had your vaccine.”
He also reposted a TikTok video of a marine saying that the long-term effects of the vaccine were unknown: “I’ll get it later on after y’all start growing apendages (sic) out of y’all’s foreheads.”
From the Denver Post and Newsweek.