PROTESTER TORCHED AT TRUMP TRIAL
Bystanders watch as man throws leaflets then sets himself ablaze
DONALD Trump’s criminal trial was halted yesterday when a man set himself on fire outside the court in New York City.
The shocking incident happened in an area set aside for protesters when the man threw leaflets in the air before setting himself ablaze and falling to the ground.
People rushed over to douse him with a fire extinguisher and try to beat the flames down. emergency responders then rushed the man away on a stretcher.
local officials identified him as max Azzarello, from St Augustine, Florida. He was believed to be in a critical condition in hospital last night.
He is believed to be a conspiracy theorist but was not targeting any person or group.
One witness said that someone shouted at him: “Don’t do it!” Another said: “it’s going to be in my nightmares. it happened pretty fast.”
Police chief Jeffrey maddrey told reporters that the man had taken out a canister filled with what is believed to be a flame accelerant and set himself on fire.
it took place in a park across the street from the courthouse that has been a gathering place for protesters and media outlets covering jury selection. it happened minutes after a full jury of 12 people and six alternates was finally seated in Trump’s hush money case, drawing the first criminal trial of a US president a step closer to opening statements.
lawyers spent days quizzing dozens of New Yorkers to choose a panel.
The trial will place the presumptive republican presidential nominee in a manhattan courtroom for weeks as the race to the White House heats up. Trump, 77, has been charged with 34 counts of fraud, related to $130,000 paid by his ex-lawyer and fixer michael cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public before the 2016 presidential election, which he won.
He has pleaded not guilty.