2024-04-20 11:31:42
The man who set himself on fire outside the Manhattan courthouse where former President Donald Trump is being tried for buying the silence of a porn star has died.
37-year-old Maxwell Azzarello doused himself with liquid, then threw pamphlets with conspiracy theories into the air, reports BTA.
This happened at a time when jury selection was being completed for the trial against Trump.
Azzarello was taken to a hospital in critical condition on Friday, where he later died, CBS confirmed.
Trump was in the building to attend jury selection, where he had security, but the former president had left at the time of the incident.
New York police said early Saturday that Azzarello was pronounced dead by hospital staff, NBC reported.
Court security was not breached in Friday’s incident, the emergency services said. The case, which had just concluded with the selection of an alternate jury, resumed later in the afternoon. Opening statements are expected to begin Monday.
Investigators said they received a 911 call around 1:30 p.m. local time that a man had set himself on fire.
They have identified him as 37-year-old Maxwell Azzarello, who arrived in New York from his home in Florida sometime in the past week. He had no criminal record in New York, and his family in Florida did not know he had traveled to the city.