Gay Marriage Opponent Who Burned Cheerios In Protest Dies Of Heart Attack

Last week, Michael Leisner, 65, became known nationwide after an ill-conceived protest outside General Mills during which he attempted to (and failed to) burn a box of Cheerios to express discontent with the company’s support of marriage equality. And just days later, Leisner succumbed to a heart attack and died.

Back on August 7, we posted about the Cheerios-burning protest outside a General Mills office. While Leisner attempted to set the box of toasted oat cereal ablaze, the grass (treated with a flammable substance) and, subsequently, his shoes caught fire.

The entire spectacle was, of course, preserved on YouTube and went viral, and, in the clip below, the person filming can be heard laughing as the grass catches fire during the Cheerios protest gone awry.

In a sad and strange twist, it was just a few days after the clip became notable that Leisner succumbed to a heart attack while running errands near his home on August 11. Along with Leisner’s death comes a conclusion to the criminal investigation that kicked off when footage of the General Mills gay marriage protest went viral. The Smoking Gun reports:

“Leisner’s death brings an abrupt end to a police investigation of his protest outside General Mills’s corporate headquarters in Golden Valley. In an e-mail today, Stacy Carlson, chief of the Golden Valley Police Department, reported that, ‘It’s being closed exceptionally, due to the suspect’s death over the weekend.'”

Leisner’s death occurred while he was waiting for his children, who were playing tennis at the time of his heart attack.