A man who has since been identified as Max Azzarello set himself on fire Friday afternoon outside the Manhattan courthouse where jury selection in former president Donald Trump’s hush-money trial was wrapping up.
The self-immolation, which was caught on video by multiple media outlets, took place in a barricaded park across the street from the courthouse around 1:30 p.m. eastern. Police officers can be seen in the videos dousing Azzarello’s body with a fire extinguisher.
Azzarello appears to be a conspiracy-minded former Democratic campaign staffer and operations manager who threw pamphlets into the air before self-immolating that directed bystanders to his Substack blog, “The Ponzi Papers.” Azzarello writes on his Substack of a supposed “totalitarian con” and identifies himself as the man who set himself on fire outside of the Trump courthouse.
Azzarello warns of what he believes to be cryptocurrency ponzi scheme being manipulated by economic elites, most notably tech billionaire Peter Thiel. He claims the government is a “secret kleptocracy” full of financial criminals and highlights The Simpsons as a tool supposedly used by elites to brainwash the American people.
His LinkedIn page features a picture of himself with former president Bill Clinton, a subject of his conspiracy theories, and lists his various marketing and operations positions in politics and tech.
NYPD held a press conference at the scene a little after 3:00. p.m. eastern and confirmed Azzarello’s identity. He was in critical condition at a Cornell University hospital and later died from his injuries. Four officers suffered minor injuries from the fire and they are in stable condition.
“He arrived in New York at some point earlier this week,” police said. His license plate indicates he drove from St. Augustine, Florida. “We spoke to family members today and they were unaware he was even in New York.”
Azzarello appeared to be alive and severely burned when he was rushed away from the scene in an ambulance. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans when he doused himself in accelerant and held a flame to his chest. He fell to the ground as the flames consumed him and onlookers screamed upon realization of what was taking place.
Just minutes after the full jury was selected in Donald Trump’s New York hush money criminal trial, someone appears to have set themself on fire outside the courthouse, per CNN’s @thelauracoates. pic.twitter.com/skRj1dXD9t
— The Recount (@therecount) April 19, 2024
At one point, Azzarello appears to have lived in St. Augustine, Florida.
He was arrested at least three times by St. Augustine police last August on misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and disturbing the peace. Arrest reports suggest that Azzarello was struggling with his mental health at the time.
On August 19, police arrested Azzarello after they say he threw a glass of wine at a framed autograph of former president Bill Clinton that was on the wall of a resort restaurant where he’d eaten. The autographed was stained, with damage estimated at $400 to $500, according to an arrest report.
Two days later, police found Azzarello outside of the resort in his underwear, holding a speaker, and yelling and cursing at guests. When police arrived, he was “stripping his clothes off and yelling at customers,” reports say.
On August 24, police again encountered Azzarello after they say he vandalized the signs affixed to a local United Way building and a library, took and broke a construction sign, and climbed into the bed of a pickup and started going through the items inside.
When police found him, he was holding a pest control sign and said that the “pest control company was there to exterminate children and dogs,” according to an arrest report.
Deceased left-wing Air Force engineer Aaron Bushnell similarly self-immolated in February to protest American support for Israel’s ongoing war effort against Hamas. He wore his military uniform and set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., ultimately succumbing to his injuries at the age of 25.
Left-wing opponents of the U.S.-Israel relationship and Hamas itself celebrated Bushnell as a martyr and blamed his suicide on the Biden administration.
Jury selection for Trump’s criminal trial finished on Friday when five alternate jurors were chosen after a 12 person jury was finalized on Thursday. The former president criticized judge Juan Merchan’s gag order against him as Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg seeks to hold Trump in contempt for allegedly violating it.
“The gag order has to come off. I should be allowed to speak. I have to be released from the gag order. They have taken away my constitutional right to speak and that includes speaking to you,” Trump said.
Opening arguments in the trial are scheduled to take place Monday morning.
Ryan Mills contributed reporting.