Man sets self on fire before Trump trial
‘Conspiracy theorist’ dies after self-immolation outside courthouse
NEW YORK: A man has died after setting himself on fire outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s historic hushmoney trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
The man burned for several minutes in full view of television cameras that were set up outside the courthouse on Friday, where the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president is being held.
NBC News and other US media said early yesterday that the man had died. NBC News quoted New York City police as saying the hospital where the man was taken had declared him dead.
Witnesses said the man pulled pamphlets out of a backpack and threw them in the air before he doused himself with a liquid and set himself on fire. One of those pamphlets included references to “evil billionaires” but portions that were visible to a witness did not mention Trump.
The New York Police Department said the man, who they identified as Max Azzarello of St Augustine, Florida, did not appear to be targeting Trump or others involved in the trial.
“Right now we are labelling him as sort of a conspiracy theorist,” Tarik Sheppard, a police deputy commissioner said at a news conference.
In an online manifesto, a man
using that name said he set himself on fire and apologised to friends, witnesses and first responders. The post warns of “an apocalyptic fascist coup” and criticises cryptocurrency and US politicians, but does not single out Trump in particular.
A smell of smoke lingered in the plaza shortly after the incident, according to a witness, and a police officer sprayed a fire extinguisher on the ground.
A smouldering backpack and a gas can were visible.
The shocking development came shortly after jury selection for the trial was completed, clearing the way for prosecutors and
defence attorneys to make opening statements tomorrow in a case stemming from hush money paid to a porn star.
Trump is accused of covering up a US$130,000 payment his then-lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she says they had a decade earlier.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and denies any such encounter with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. — Reuters