A man self-immolated outside the Manhattan courthouse on Friday, as former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial was being held. According to the Reuters report, the man identified as Maxwell Azzarello, 37, threw pamphlets into the air before dousing himself with a liquid from a can. A witness said that Azzarello burned for several minutes.
Azzarello lives in Florida and arrived in New York last week, as per a BBC report, he does not have a criminal background in New York and his family in Florida were unaware that he had travelled to the city. Speaking on Azzarello’s behaviour New York Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said he was “shuffling around” in the park close by before he reached into his bag to take out the flammable liquid and pamphlets.
Chief Maddrey said the pamphlets were “propaganda-based” and on a “conspiracy theory”.
CNN reporters said they saw a man engulfed in flames for more than three minutes. "I see a totally charred human being," one of them said on air.
A witness told BBC that it took her atleast 20 seconds to realise what had happened in front of her. "It was hot, and it didn't make a lot of sense. The whole thing happened so fast... it took me like 20 seconds to figure out what was going on," she told reporters.
Since there was a massive police presence outside the courthouse the police ran towards him with a fire extinguisher to douse the flames. Azzarello was badly burned and was taken to the burn centre in a hospital, he is in a critical condition.
Trump’s Hush Money Payment Case
The incident occurred shortly after jury selection for Trump’s trial, now prosecutors and defence attorneys will make opening statements next week over the case regarding hush money paid to Stormy Daniels.
As per Reuters, 12 jurors were selected, along with 6 alternates. The jury consists of seven men and five women, mostly employed in white-collar professions. This is the first trial to determine whether a former US president is guilty of breaking the law.
Trump is accused of covering up a $130,000 payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she alleged they had a decade earlier.