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On Friday in New York a man set himself on fire in front of the Manhattan courthouse where the criminal trial against former US president Donald Trump over the alleged payment of 130 thousand dollars to the porn film actress Stormy Daniels is underway. The man was rescued, but later died in hospital.
The New York Police he said in a press conference that the man had arrived at the park in front of the court with a bag, from which he had taken out some leaflets and a canister with flammable liquid inside: then he had thrown the leaflets in the air, poured the liquid on himself and had set himself on fire. Police said the leaflets thrown into the air contained various conspiracy phrases.
The man’s name was Maxwell Azzarello, he was 37 years old and came from Florida. According to initial reconstructions he had arrived in New York this week and according to some testimonies he had appeared in court every day since the start of the trial, which began on Monday. Azzarello had been experiencing mental health problems and over the past year had become interested in a series of conspiracy theories, which he talked about on his social media profiles.
(REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
After the man caught fire, some passers-by approached to try to put it out, throwing coats and using fire extinguishers. «I saw a completely charred human being», he said the correspondent of CNN Laura Coates. Four police officers who intervened to put out the fire were slightly injured.
Warning: the images may be shocking
At the time of the events Trump was inside the courthouse. The ongoing trial there was the first of four criminal trials in which he is involved, and the first ever against a former president of the United States. On Friday, after three days of selection (and a break on Wednesday), the Manhattan court chose the 12 members of the popular jury that will judge Trump. The selection was widely covered by US newspapers and had various particular moments due to Trump’s popularity and his presence in the courtroom.
New York Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said that after this event the security protocols related to the trial will be “reviewed”.
– Read also: For Trump, it was not fun to watch the selection of jurors in the trial against him