The man who set himself on fire Friday outside the New York City courthouse where former President Trump is on trial was described by police as a “conspiracy theorist.”
Maxwell Azzarello, 37, of St. Augustine, Fla., arrived in New York this week, authorities said.
On Friday, he joined other protesters, Trump supporters and media who have been stationed in Collect Pond Park outside the downtown Manhattan courthouse. A New York Times photographer took a picture of Azzarello holding a sign that read, “Trump is with Biden and they’re about to fascist coup us.”
About 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, Azzarello walked to the center of the park, pulled pamphlets from a book bag, threw them into the air, then doused himself with liquid, New York Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said. Officials said the liquid was an alcohol-based cleaning solution.
“He lights himself on fire,” Maddrey said during a news conference Friday afternoon.
CNN showed video of flames engulfing the man’s body as bystanders ran from the rising dark smoke.
The flames continued to burn for a few minutes before a New York police officer ran toward Azzarello with a fire extinguisher. Four officers suffered minor injuries putting out the flames. Maddrey said people used coats and fire extinguishers to help quell the flames.
Azzarello was rushed to a hospital, where he was intubated and in critical condition, New York Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said.
The incident occurred shortly after a full jury of 12 people and six alternates had been seated in Trump’s hush money case, the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
Police said Azzarello did not appear to have targeted anyone else in the incident and described him as a “conspiracy theorist.”
Azzarello appeared to have reached out to several news outlets beforehand to announce the planned self-immolation.
Writing on Substack, he described himself as an “investigative researcher” and rambled about conspiracy theories.
He referred to cryptocurrency as a Ponzi scheme that was engineered to bring about a worldwide coup and described “The Simpsons” as propaganda for the mafia.
Azzarrello worked as operations director for the congressional campaign of U.S. Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) for about four months in 2014, a representative for the congressman’s office confirmed to The Times.
“I recall that Max worked on one of my early campaigns,” Bera said in a brief statement. “This is tragic news and my thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.”
A LinkedIn profile associated with a Max Azzarello shows he held a similar position in 2013 working on a political campaign for Tom Suozzi, who recently won a special election for a U.S. House seat in New York. Representatives for Suozzi’s offices did not immediately return calls to confirm Azzarello’s employment.
Online records also show Azzarello worked for Strong Towns, a nonprofit media advocacy group. His employment history, however, appeared to have been removed from the website Friday afternoon.
Police said his family appeared unaware that he had traveled to New York. Reached by phone, his father hung up on a reporter from The Times.
On his Instagram account just minutes before the incident, Azzarello posted a story with the words, “I love you” written repeatedly.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said police have identified a vehicle that Azzarello may have used but are still working to locate it.
Times staff writer Noah Goldberg contributed to this report.
