A man set himself on fire outside the New York courtroom where former President Donald Trump was on precedent in a hush money case, New York police reported.
The horrific incident occurred in a barricade park across the street from the courthouse at around 1:30 p.m. ET.
Police are still trying to determine whether his motives were related to politics and/or the Trump trial.
Witnesses were frightened
It was the first former president in U.S. history to go on criminal trial, and the outside of the courtroom was littered with cameras, and the man burned in front of the cameras for several minutes.
After selecting 12 jurors and six alternate jurors to handle Trump's hush money case, the man set himself on fire outside the courthouse, and police quickly stepped in to extinguish the flames.
The horrific video shows the man remaining seated while completely engulfed in flames, then, people rushed over with fire extinguishers, and finally, his blackened body convulsed on the ground.
At least one person at the scene tried to put out the fire with a suit jacket, followed by another person extinguishing the fire with a fire extinguisher.
According to the flyer left by the man at the scene, a link can be made to a page with the caption: "I self-immolated outside Trump's trial." ”
Dave, an eyewitness, told the New York Post: "I heard a thud, it was he who threw the paper up and it fell to the ground with a thud. ”
Then he took out a jar and poured it on himself. After pouring something apparently flammable on himself, he took out a lighter and set himself on fire. ”
An eyewitness, who asked not to be named, told reporters that "he was burned for quite a long time," and that "it was scary." ”
Eyewitness Charles Udoaka told the outlet: "I've never seen anything like this in my life. I was walking through the park and saw a fire and people were screaming trying to find a fire extinguisher to put it out.
A foreign tourist in New York said that the self-immolators appeared very calm and did not say a word. He was so close to him at the time that he thought it was fake at first, but soon the fire was real.
"It's terrible, why would anyone do this to themselves. I wish we hadn't walked that path today. ”
After the incident, the smell of smoke still lingered in the square, which could not be dissipated for a long time, and a policeman sprayed fire extinguishing agent on the ground. A smoking backpack and a gas tank can be seen at the scene.
Crowds of pro- and anti-Trump crowds and journalists gathered outside the courthouse. Many news media people broadcast the event live.
Self-burning men's happiness
The NYPD has previously promised to deploy a significant force to ensure the security of the trial process, but it still faces significant challenges.
The courthouse, located in downtown Manhattan, is heavily guarded by police. On Monday, the first day of the trial, the courthouse drew a crowd of protesters and bystanders, though the crowd has since dwindled.
New York City Police Commissioner Jeffrey Maddrey said at a later news conference that the man eventually collapsed to the ground and that people, police and court officials ran into the park to try to extinguish the fire.
He was then rushed to the hospital by ambulance and survived, but suffered severe burns.
New York City Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said, "The victim is in critical condition, intubated, but alive. ”
Conspiracy theorists?
The man who identified himself as an "investigative researcher" was named Max Azzarello, according to the New York police.
In a 2,648-word, incoherent manifesto, he called his self-immolation an "extreme protest" against a "totalitarian hoax" and an impending "apocalyptic fascist coup," according to the New York Post.
One of the pamphlets mentions "evil billionaires," but the portion seen by a Reuters witness makes no mention of Trump.
Photos provided by two law enforcement officials showed the man holding two large signs, one of which read, "Trump and Biden are together, they will carry out a fascist coup against us" before lighting the fire.
In addition, the contents of the leaflets distributed by the men appear to have been posted online, and the documents support anti-government conspiracy theories as well as criticisms of NYU, with statements such as "NYU is the front line of the mob" and "Abolish our sinful government and replace it with a government that works for all."
He is from St. Augustine, Florida. Augustine), who arrived in New York earlier this week, appears to have acted alone.
Sources told ABC News that Trump in court was already aware of the incident outside.
Police Deputy Chief Tarik Sheppard said at a news conference: "At the moment, we're convicting him of some kind of conspiracy theorist, and we're going to start with that. ”