Who was the man who self-immolated outside the Manhattan court in USA's New York where former President Donald Trump's hush-money trial was being held?
Maxwell Azzarello, 37, threw conspiracy-theory pamphlets in the air after he doused himself with inflammable liquid.
Trump was at that time in the building attending jury selection.
Police responded to an emergency 911 call at 1.30 pm last Friday. Azzarello was taken to hospital with severe burns, with New York City police saying later that he had been declared dead in hospital.
Azzarello, who described himself as an investigative researcher on a social media platform had come to New York from Florida, where he lived, in the week that he died.
His family was not aware that he had travelled to New York. Though no criminal records related to him were found in New York, he reportedly had several encounters with Florida police.
A Rutgers University graduate in city and regional planning, he worked in marketing, sales, technology, and even a political campaign in 2013.
A New York Times report said he had walked around Lower Manhattan earlier in the week, holding a sign on Wednesday that had negative messages about a prominent university.
He had also been spotted with placards reading: “Biggest scoop of your life or your money back!” and that Trump and Biden were planning to "... fascist coup us.”
In August 2023 he allegedly threw a glass of wine at former President Bill Clinton’s autograph displayed in a Hotel in St. Augustine. Days later he was arrested for stripping and shouting at hotel customers. He was also seen getting into a fountain and cursing people.
Later, again in the same month, he was captured by CCTV cameras outside a library and then breaking a pest control sign. He had reportedly misinterpreted the sign, believing a pest control company was harming children and dogs, a police report said.
Police paperwork related to his arrest last year indicated Azzarello was suicidal and unemployed. He was in a St. Johns County jail until October 3 last year and then sentenced to 180 days of probation.
Eyewitnesses in Manhattan before the fire incident had seen Azzarello shuffling around in the park before rummaging in the bag and taking out the liquid and pamphlets.
Those present outside the building where Trump’s trial was being held said they heard a commotion before seeing a man being carried away on a stretcher.
Some said it took almost 20 minutes for them to realise what was happening.
NYPD investigators declared the area safe after Azzarello was carried away and they collected the pamphlets.
Three NYPD officials and one court official had minor injuries after putting out the fire.
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