A man has died after setting himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump\u2019s historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
\nThe man burned for several minutes in full view of television cameras that were set up outside the courthouse, where the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president is being held.
\nNBC News and other U.S. media said early on Saturday that the man had died. NBC News quoted New York City police as saying the hospital where the man was taken had declared him dead.
\nOfficials had said earlier the man, who was in his late 30s, was in critical condition.
\nWitnesses said the man pulled pamphlets out of a backpack and threw them in the air before he doused himself with a liquid and set himself on fire. One of those pamphlets included references to \u201cevil billionaires\u201d but portions that were visible to a Reuters witness did not mention Trump.
\nThe New York Police Department said the man, who they identified as Max Azzarello of St. Augustine, Florida, did not appear to be targeting Trump or others involved in the trial.
\n\u201cRight now we are labeling him as sort of a conspiracy theorist, and we are going from there,\u201d Tarik Sheppard, a deputy commissioner with the Police Department, said at a news conference.
\nIn an online manifesto, a man using that name said he set himself on fire and apologized to friends, witnesses and first responders. The post warns of \u201can apocalyptic fascist coup\u201d and criticizes cryptocurrency and U.S. politicians, but does not single out Trump in particular.
\nA smell of smoke lingered in the plaza shortly after the incident, according to a Reuters witness, and a police officer sprayed a fire extinguisher on the ground. A smoldering backpack and a gas can were visible.
\nThe downtown Manhattan courthouse, heavily guarded by police, drew a throng of protesters and onlookers on Monday, the trial\u2019s first day, though crowds have dwindled since then.
\nJURY SELECTION COMPLETED
\nThe shocking development came shortly after jury selection for the trial was completed, clearing the way for prosecutors and defense attorneys to make opening statements on Monday in a case stemming from hush money paid to a porn star. The court adjourned later in the afternoon.
\nThe 12 jurors, along with six alternates, will consider evidence in a first-ever trial to determine whether a former U.S. president is guilty of breaking the law. Prosecutors intend to call at least 20 witnesses, according to Trump defense lawyer Susan Necheles. Trump may testify on his own behalf, in a risky move that would open him up to cross-examination.
\nThe jury consists of seven men and five women, mostly employed in white-collar professions: two corporate lawyers, a software engineer, a speech therapist and an English teacher. Most are not native New Yorkers, hailing from across the United States and countries like Ireland and Lebanon. The alternates, who will also hear the case, are held in reserve in case one of the jurors has to leave due to illness or some other cause.
\nTrump is accused of covering up a $130,000 payment his then-lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she says they had a decade earlier.
\nTrump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and denies any such encounter with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
\nTrump has pleaded not guilty in three other criminal cases as well, but this is the only one certain to go to trial ahead of the Nov. 5 election, when the Republican politician aims to again take on Democratic President Joe Biden.
\nA conviction would not bar him from office.
\n(Reuters)self-immolation. man sets himself on fire, New York courthouse, hush-money trial<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A man died after setting himself on fire outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush-money trial was taking place, but officials said he was not targeting Trump. The man, identified as Max Azzarello, did not mention Trump in pamphlets he threw before setting himself on fire. The incident occurred after jury selection for the trial was completed, with 12 jurors and six alternates set to consider evidence in the case. Trump is accused of covering up a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,3258,492,4461,186,2506,2542,1918,4543,932,3431,3294,1470,3818,166,1600,1610,118,4548,156,6703,1130,756,6704,5679,591,412,1394,7276,2952,2628,393,7234,3331,4593,184,5148,6130,4843,1670,1022,6928,4987,5671,1906,841,7275,3523,544,457,6305,1524,1100,18],"class_list":["post-9010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-air","tag-biden","tag-billionaires","tag-business","tag-cameras","tag-conference","tag-conspiracy","tag-conviction","tag-court","tag-criminal-trial","tag-critical-condition","tag-cryptocurrency","tag-development","tag-donald-trump","tag-election","tag-evidence","tag-fire","tag-gas","tag-hospital","tag-hush-money-trial","tag-ireland","tag-joe-biden","tag-jury-selection","tag-law","tag-lawyers","tag-lebanon","tag-man","tag-man-sets-himself-on-fire","tag-media","tag-money","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-courthouse","tag-news","tag-office","tag-police","tag-police-officer","tag-porn","tag-president","tag-president-joe-biden","tag-republican","tag-six","tag-software","tag-stemming","tag-trial","tag-trump","tag-trump-trial","tag-u-s-president","tag-united-states","tag-white","tag-who","tag-witness","tag-women","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n