Police have identified the man who attempted self-immolation and call him a conspiracy theorist.
On Friday, April 19, a man, for an unknown reason, set himself on fire in front of the Manhattan courthouse in New York, where Donald Trump's historic trial for concealing payments to a porn actress is taking place.
This is reported by Reuters.
The man burned for several minutes in front of television cameras installed outside the courthouse, where the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president is taking place.
“I see a completely charred man,” a CNN reporter said on air.
Officials said the man survived and remains in critical condition at a local hospital.
Witnesses said the man pulled brochures from a backpack and planted them into the air, then doused himself with liquid and set him on fire. One of those brochures contained a reference to “evil billionaires,” but the parts seen by the Reuters witness did not mention Trump.
The New York Police Department said the man, whom they identified as Max Azzarello of St. Augustine, Florida, did not appear to be seeking to implicate Trump or others involved.
“We now call him a conspiracy theorist and go with that,” Tariq Sheppard, deputy commissioner of the Police Department, said at a press conference.
In a previously published online manifesto, Max Azzarello announced that he would set himself on fire and apologized to friends and witnesses. The post warns of “apocalyptic fascist coups” and criticizes cryptocurrency and American politicians, but does not single out Trump.
“It burned for quite a long time. It was pretty terrible,” one witness, who declined to give his name, told reporters.
Soon after the incident, smoke could be smelled in the square and a police officer sawed a fire extinguisher to the ground, a Reuters witness said. A smoldering backpack and a gas canister were visible.
The shocking incident occurred after a Manhattan court completed jury selection for the trial. The lawsuit accuses Donald Trump of paying $130,000 to keep former porn actress Stormy Daniels quiet about her relationship with him before the 2016 election.
Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, faces a maximum of 4 years in prison if convicted. The court may order the trial to last up to eight weeks after jury selection is completed.
Recall that in February of this year, an American soldier committed self-immolation in front of the Israeli Embassy in the USA.
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