A man died after setting himself on fire Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s historic secret trial was taking place as jury selection was wrapping up, but authorities said he did not appear to be targeting Trump.
The man burned for several minutes in full view of television cameras installed outside the courthouse, where the first criminal trial of a former US president is being held.
NBC News and other US media outlets said Saturday morning that the man had died. NBC News quoted New York police as saying the hospital where the man was taken pronounced him dead.
Authorities previously said the man, who was in his late 30s, was in critical condition.
Witnesses said the man took leaflets from a backpack and threw them into the air before dousing himself with liquid and setting himself on fire. One of those flyers included references to “evil billionaires,” but portions visible to a Reuters witness did not mention Trump.
The New York Police Department said the man, identified as Max Azzarello of St. Augustine, Florida, did not appear to be targeting Trump or others involved in the trial.
“Right now, we’re labeling him as some sort of conspiracy theorist and we’ll go from there,” Tarik Sheppard, deputy commissioner of the Police Department, said at a news conference.
In an online manifesto, a man by that name said he set himself on fire and apologized to friends, witnesses and rescuers. The post warns of “an apocalyptic fascist coup” and criticizes cryptocurrency and US politicians, but does not single out Trump in particular.
A smell of smoke lingered in the square shortly after the incident, according to a Reuters witness, and a police officer threw a fire extinguisher on the ground. A smoking backpack and a can of gasoline were visible.
The midtown Manhattan courthouse, heavily guarded by police, drew a crowd of protesters and onlookers on Monday, the first day of the trial, although the crowds have since thinned.
JURY SELECTION COMPLETED
The shocking development occurred shortly after the conclusion of jury selection for the trial, paving the way for prosecutors and defense attorneys to make opening statements Monday in a case stemming from hush money paid to a porn star. Court adjourned late in the afternoon.
The 12 jurors, along with six alternates, will consider evidence in a first trial to determine whether a former US president is guilty of breaking the law. Prosecutors intend to call at least 20 witnesses, according to Trump’s defense lawyer, Susan Necheles. Trump could testify in his own name, a risky move that would expose him to cross-examination.
The jury is made up of seven men and five women, most of them employed in white-collar professions: two corporate lawyers, a software engineer, a speech therapist and an English teacher. Most are not native New Yorkers, coming from the United States and countries like Ireland and Lebanon. The substitutes, who will also judge the case, remain in reserve in case one of the jurors has to be absent due to illness or another reason.
Trump is accused of covering up a $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 she 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.
Trump has also pleaded not guilty in three other criminal cases, but this is the only one that will certainly go to trial before the November 5 elections, when the Republican politician intends to face Democratic President Joe Biden again.
A conviction would not prevent him from holding office.
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