Man sets himself on fire outside of Trump’s New York hush-money trial

A man has set himself on fire outside of the Manhattan courthouse where former United States President Donald Trump is currently standing trial on criminal charges of falsifying business records, authorities said.

The incident happened on Friday afternoon, as the fourth day of the Trump trial unfolded. Witnesses reported seeing the man covered in flames outside of the courthouse, in a park across the street.

A correspondent for CNN was reporting live on air when the incident occurred. “There is chaos that is happening,” CNN anchor Laura Coates said, describing the scene. “I can smell the burning of the agent used.”
“We now have officers removing their coats, trying to surround his body to engulf him from further going into flames,” she continued. “People are climbing over the barricade to try to separate the public from this man.”

A video showed the man was still in flames and twitching on the concrete as a police officer rushed over with a fire extinguisher.

He was later identified as Maxwell Azzarello, a native of St Augustine, Florida, who arrived in New York earlier in the week. Police officials said he was in critical condition.