A man who lit himself on fire Friday across the street from the Manhattan courthouse where former president Donald Trump is facing a criminal hush money trial is in critical condition, New York City police said.
The man walked into Collect Pond Park around 1:30 p.m., removed several pamphlets from his backpack and tossed them on the ground, Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters. He then pulled out a canister of liquid accelerant, doused himself with it and lit himself on fire, the chief said. The man took a few steps before falling onto a police barrier and then to the ground.
Civilians and officers ran into the park, and used coats and fire extinguishers to try to put out the blaze before firefighters arrived and fully extinguished it.
Paramedics transported the man — identified by police as Maxwell Azzarello of St. Augustine, Fla. — to a hospital, where he was intubated, according to New York City fire officials. Four police officers were treated for minor injuries.
The pamphlets Azzarello, 37, threw on the ground promoted various conspiracy theories, including ones about Ponzi schemes and local educational institutions being fronts for the mob, Joe Kenny, the police department’s chief of detectives, told reporters.
Azzarello posted online about his pending self-immolation before going to the park Friday, police confirmed. In a more than 2,600-word Substack post, he said his “extreme act of protest” was a response to a “multi-trillion-dollar Ponzi scheme” created by the wealthy to shatter the global economy. He also theorized that members of the public were “victims of a totalitarian con.”
He arrived in New York City between Saturday and Friday without his family’s awareness, police said. They added that Azzarello was not previously on their radar and did not appear to be targeting a particular person or group Friday.
Police emphasized that Azzarello did not breach the security protocols in place for Trump’s trial. But Maddrey said the department was still “very concerned” about the incident and will assess whether it needs to update its security plan.
Julie Berman, 56, who came to the plaza to photograph people protesting for and against Trump, said she saw Azzarello set himself on fire. He had a sign saying something about Trump and President Biden working together to orchestrate a “coup,” she said, and another alleging some kind of “Ponzi scheme.”
Azzarello told her to get back and then doused himself with the accelerant, threw the fliers in the air, and then doused himself again before flicking a lighter and setting himself on fire, she said.
“It happened so fast and took my mind so long to catch up,” Berman said, adding that she initially thought the liquid was water.
Fred Gates, a passing cyclist, said he watched in disbelief as the man took two small gas cans out of his backpack.
“As it became apparent that he was going to light himself on fire, I and everyone else ran away from him,” Gates said. He added: “He was slow, he was calm.”
If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
Source link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/19/man-sets-himself-fire-near-trump-trial/