The man who set himself on fire Friday in a horrifying scene near the Manhattan courthouse where alternate jurors were being picked for Donald Trump's hush-money trial has been identified as 37-year-old Florida resident Max Azzarello.
Spectators rushed to help extinguish the flames. One reportedly used a fire extinguisher.
Azzarello, of St. Augustine, was identified by a high ranking NYPD official, the New York Times reported, noting that Azzarello was at the courthouse the day before, holding a sign displaying a web address.
The top post of the link identified him as an "investigative researcher," and featured pamplets reading: "I have set myself on fire outside the Trump Trial," the Times reported.
His last Instagram post before he set himself on fire said: "I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you," Newsweek reported.
Azzarello's family didn't know he had left Florida to travel to the Manhattan courthouse, the New York Post reported.
The tragedy was presented on CNN as it happened, with anchor Laura Coates outside the courthouse.
She first told viewers that there was an active shooter, then quickly corrected that a "man has set fire to himself." CNN cameras then turned to show the flames across the street.
"A man has emblazoned himself outside the courthouse," Coates said, and reported the smell of burning flesh.
"There is chaos and it is happening," she added.
**Graphic Content Warning**
Just minutes after the full jury was selected in Donald Trump's New York hush money criminal trial, someone appears to have set themself on fire outside the courthouse, per CNN's @thelauracoates. pic.twitter.com/skRj1dXD9t
— The Recount (@therecount) April 19, 2024
The fire erupted in a designated protest area outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan, local ABC News 7 reported. Politico reporter Emily Ngo noted on X that police appeared initially slow to respond, possibly because of barricades around the area.
Azzarello was rushed to a nearby hospital on a stretcher by emergency workers while smoke still hung in the air. NYPD reported his condition as critical, and noted that there was no continuing danger to the public.
Investigators were poring over the area to collect flyers Azzarello threw into the air before setting himself ablaze, a senior law enforcement official told CNN.
A CNN team in the area reported that one of the flyers read in part: "NYU is a mob front" — and listed allegations of wrongdoings at the university.
The flyers included links to a Substack manifesto, noted Newsweek.
The Post reported that Azzarello's nearly 2,700-page conspiracy-riddled statement declared at one point: "This extreme act of protest is to draw attention to an urgent and important discovery: We are victims of a totalitarian con, and our own government (along with many of their allies) is about to hit us with an apocalyptic fascist world coup."
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
