It was determined that the man who set himself on fire in front of the Manhattan courthouse where Donald Trump’s trial was ongoing was a self-described “investigative investigator” who published a conspiracy-laden manifesto on the internet a few minutes before the incident.
Maxwell Azzarello, a 37-year-old Florida man, has shared a series of conspiracy theories on his social media accounts in recent months, railing against the rich and powerful and claiming that “our sole purpose is to dismantle our criminal government.” .
On Friday afternoon, just minutes after the final jurors were selected in the former president’s criminal trial, Mr. Azzarello set himself on fire outside the courthouse in Collect Pond Park.
He is currently in critical condition at the Weill Cornell Medicine Burn Center in Manhattan, police said.
Three NYPD officers and a court officer suffered minor injuries from the fire but were in stable condition, officials told reporters.
Less than an hour before he set himself on fire, he railed against corruption in the US government in a manifesto-style document posted on Substack. Independent.
Mr. Azzarello describes himself as an “investigative investigator” and said the act of self-immolation was an “extreme act of protest” against a “totalitarian fraud” and warned of an impending “apocalyptic fascist world coup.”
“To my friends, family, witnesses, and first responders, I deeply apologize for causing you this pain. “But I can assure you that this is a drop in the bucket compared to what our government plans to do,” he wrote.
Authorities said he threw fliers throughout the park before setting himself on fire.
“The pamphlets appear to be propaganda-based, almost like conspiracy theory type pamphlets,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. “Some information about Ponzi schemes and the fact that some of our local educational institutions are front lines of the mafia. So there is a bit of a conspiracy theory going on here.”
Police spoke to his family, who were unaware he had gone to New York. Authorities believe he arrived between April 13 and April 19.
Police said he was not known to authorities before this incident and did not violate security protocols because the park was open to the public at the time of the incident.
Public records show Mr. Azzarello is a registered Democrat. He also attended the University of North Carolina from 2005 to 2009, earning a bachelor’s degree in public policy and anthropology, the school confirmed. Independent.
He was spoken to by a witness, Dave, who declined to give his last name. Independent After witnessing the terrible sight
“The papers clattered on the floor and that already caught our attention and I said, ‘So what are these papers?’ I wondered. But then he pulled out a can and poured it on himself,” Dave said. Independent.
“People were horrified,” he continued. “There weren’t many people. People started screaming.”
Dave said the incident happened so quickly that people were unable to move to stop the individual.
“It happened pretty quickly,” he said Independent. “It’s terrible to see this.”
Some of the brochures on the stage read “The Real History of the World.” New York police officers scrambled to retrieve them as they flew over a nearby fence.
At about the same time as the police 911 call, a Secret Service agent spoke to Mr. Trump at the courthouse, CNN reported.
Mr. Trump’s trial began with jury selection on Monday. All twelve jurors and five alternates have now been selected. Opening arguments in the case against Mr. Trump are set to begin April 22.
The former president faces 34 charges that he falsified business records to conceal a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair.
A Manhattan Criminal Court spokesman told reporters at the scene that there would be no delay in the trial proceedings.
Two years ago, a climate activist set himself on fire in front of the US Supreme Court to protest the climate crisis. Wynn Alan Bruce died on April 23, 2022, one day after setting himself on fire. He is the second person known to have immolated himself in connection with the climate crisis.