A person set himself on hearth on Friday afternoon close to the Decrease Manhattan courthouse the place jurors had been being chosen for the felony trial of former President Donald J. Trump.
The person, who had lingered exterior the Manhattan Legal Courthouse earlier this week, doused himself with accelerant at round 1:35 p.m. in Accumulate Pond Park, throughout the road from the constructing. Onlookers screamed and began to run, and shortly, vibrant orange flames engulfed the person. He threw leaflets espousing anti-government conspiracy theories into the air earlier than setting himself on hearth.
Folks rushed and tried to place out the flames, however the depth of the warmth may very well be felt from a ways.
After a minute or two, dozens of law enforcement officials arrived, working round and climbing over barricades to extinguish the blaze. The person was loaded into an ambulance and rushed away. The authorities stated he was taken to a hospital burn unit in essential situation and was unlikely to outlive.
Metropolis officers recognized the person as Max Azzarello, 37, of St. Augustine, Fla. Mr. Azzarello had appeared exterior the courthouse on Thursday, holding an indication displaying the handle of a web site the place the identical pamphlets had been uploaded. The highest submit of the web site says, “I’ve set myself on hearth exterior the Trump Trial.”
Mr. Azzarello walked round Decrease Manhattan earlier within the week, holding an indication on Wednesday essential of New York College at Washington Sq. Park earlier than transferring on Thursday to Accumulate Pond Park.
On the park on Thursday, Mr. Azzarello had held up varied indicators and at one level shouted towards a bunch of reporters gathered there, “Largest scoop of your life or your a refund!” One in all his indicators claimed that Mr. Trump and President Biden had been “about to fascist coup us.”
In an interview that day, he stated his essential views of the American authorities had been formed by his analysis into Peter Thiel, the expertise billionaire and political provocateur who’s a significant marketing campaign donor, and into cryptocurrency.
Mr. Azzarello stated he had relocated from Washington Sq. Park as a result of with the chilly climate, he thought extra folks can be exterior the courthouse.
“Trump’s in on it,” Mr. Azzarello stated on Thursday. “It’s a secret kleptocracy, and it could actually solely result in an apocalyptic fascist coup.”
Mr. Azzarello arrived in New York Metropolis someday after April 13, the police stated, and his household in St. Augustine didn’t find out about his whereabouts till after the incident. Whereas Mr. Azzarello was just lately in Florida, he had connections to the New York Metropolis space and labored for Consultant Tom Suozzi throughout his 2013 marketing campaign for Nassau County government on Lengthy Island.
Over the previous yr, nevertheless, Mr. Azzarello’s conduct appeared to turn into extra erratic. He was arrested thrice in 2023 on misdemeanor expenses in Florida, and he posted on-line in August that he had simply spent three days in a psychiatric hospital.
Later that month, whereas eating on the Casa Monica Lodge in St. Augustine, he threw a glass of wine at a framed autograph of former President Invoice Clinton. He confirmed as much as the lodge once more, two days afterward Aug. 21, stripped to his underwear and shouted profanities at company whereas blasting music from a speaker.
Three days later, police arrested him for defacing and breaking indicators belonging to a number of companies. He took a pest management signal from the yard of 1 enterprise that had warned passers-by to maintain youngsters and pets away for his or her security. In feedback to the police, he stated that “the pest management firm was there to exterminate youngsters and canine.”
His mug shot exhibits Mr. Azzarello sticking his tongue out.
Along with his web site, Mr. Azzarello was additionally lively on social media, selling anti-government literature on Instagram. Most of his on-line posts earlier than the spring of 2022 had been of his travels and his household, and he famous that his mom died in April 2022 from issues of persistent obstructive pulmonary illness.
A couple of yr later, he posted a photograph of what gave the impression to be his Covid-19 vaccination card — defaced with the phrases “Tremendous Ponzi” and the image for Bitcoin.
Individuals who witnessed the hearth stated they had been in disbelief as they noticed Mr. Azzarello, who was in an space of the park reserved for supporters of Mr. Trump, toss the pamphlets into the air after which flames shoot towards the sky. Mr. Azzarello, who was carrying denims and darkish grey T-shirt, fell to the bottom amid the hearth.
A number of the pamphlets referred to New York College as a “mob entrance” and likewise talked about former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Al Gore and the lawyer David Boies, who represented Mr. Gore within the 2000 presidential election recount. One other pamphlet contained anti-government conspiracy theories, although they didn’t level in a discernible political path.
Al Baker, a spokesman for the court docket system, stated the trial schedule wouldn’t be affected, although one court docket officer had been taken to hospital due to the results of smoke inhalation.
Fred Gates, 60, stated he had been using his bike by means of the park when he stopped to observe the Trump supporters and noticed Mr. Azzarello on the brink of mild himself on hearth. Mr. Gates stated he thought it was a prank or a efficiency till he noticed the flames.
One other witness, Gideon Oliver, a civil rights lawyer, stated he noticed smoke rising from the park and a court docket officer dashing from a constructing carrying a fireplace extinguisher.
“After I noticed and smelled the smoke I believed somebody, I assumed one of many pro-Trump protesters, had lit a fireplace within the park,” Mr. Oliver stated. “After I noticed police and court docket officers working, I then thought it may need been a bomb.”
Mr. Azzarello stood tall as he poured the accelerant on himself after which held a flame at chest stage. As folks nearest him fled, others cried out as they realized what he was about to do.
Screams and shouts — although not from him — crammed the air because the flames consumed him and he slowly collapsed.
Wesley Parnell, Alan Feuer, Chelsia Rose Marcius, Jan Ransom, Maria Cramer, Stefanos Chen and Nicholas Fandos contributed reporting.