An individual set themselves on fire on Friday afternoon outside of former President Donald Trump's Manhattan criminal trial.
Several news networks including Fox News and CNN reported that a man was seen setting himself in flames outside of the courthouse on Friday. Newsweek reporter Katherine Fung said, "We hear sirens from inside the courthouse."
The Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information (DCPI) for the New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed to Newsweek that first responders were "aiding a person outside the courthouse."
CNN anchor Laura Coates was seen reporting on the former president's hush money trial in New York City and was heard saying that a man had "emblazoned himself."
"We are watching a man who is fully emblazoned in front of the courthouse today. We are watching multiple fires breaking out around his body and person. We have seen an arm that has been visible, that has been engulfed in total flames," Coates said on air. "There is total chaos...people are wondering right now if people are in danger."
Fung, who has been inside the courtroom all week, reported that some smoke remained after first responders arrived on the scene.
The Context
Friday marked the fourth day of Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan where he is accused of making hush money payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
Last April, the former president was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who said Trump "fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election."
Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the case.
What we know:
NYPD officials provided an update on the incident during a press conference on Friday, saying that the individual was identified as Maxwell Azzarello, from St. Augustine, Florida. NYPD officials said that at 1:30 p.m. EST, the man was observed entering Collect Pond Park and walking into the center. He is then seen taking numerous pamphlets out of his backpack and then pouring an accelerant on himself, just before setting himself on fire.
Azzarello was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition, the NYPD said.
During CNN's News Central, Coates was heard saying that she saw a body on the ground and multiple police officers running to the scene.
"We right now have officers removing their coats trying to surround this person...to prevent them from further going into flames," Coates said. "You can smell burning flesh, you can smell an accelerant, the flames are continuing to engulf his person."
Newsweek's Fung reported that a sign was found near where the fire started that mentioned a Substack blog page. On the blog mentioned on the sign, the man identified himself as Max Azzarello and said that he was an investigative researcher who set himself on fire on Friday.
"This extreme act of protest is to draw attention to an urgent and important discovery: We are victims of a totalitarian con, and our own government (along with many of their allies) is about to hit us with an apocalyptic fascist world coup," the blog post said.
Views:
A number of social media users shared photos and videos of the incident on Friday.
"BREAKING: A man just set himself on fire outside the Trump trial in New York City," Libs of TikTok wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
X user @rawsalerts shared a clip of Fox News' airing of the incident and wrote, "A person has sets themselves on fire near New York courthouse where Trump's trial is underway while Fox and CNN were live reporting before cutting off the feed off."
What's next:
Trump's trial is expected to continue for the next several weeks. It is currently unclear if the former president will issue a statement on the incident outside the courthouse.
Update 4/19/24, 1:59 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 4/19/24, 2:22 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 4/19/24, 3:20 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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