Conspiracy Theorist Who Set Himself on Fire Outside Donald Trump's Hush Money Trial Court Has Died

After setting himself on fire outside the courtroom in lower Manhattan where former President Donald Trump was being tried for the hush-money case, Maxwell Azzarello, a resident of St. Augustine, Florida, has passed away. According to NBC NewYork, the individual was transported in serious condition by emergency medical services (EMS) to a burn unit at NewYork-Presbyterian Cornell Medical Center. Hospital personnel later pronounced him dead, according to the NYPD.

The police did not release the time of death. As per The Guardian, authorities have stated that before the horrific incident, Azzarello had thrown flyers filled with conspiracy theories criticizing the government into the air. He had also posted controversial theories regarding the government on a website before carrying out the self-immolation act. “At 1.30 this afternoon we observed a male walk into the center of the park, he started shuffling around his clothes, opened up a book bag, took numerous pieces of paper, threw the pamphlets throughout the park, and then pulled out a canister and put some kind of liquid on himself, and he lights himself on fire,” Jeffrey Maddrey, chief of the New York police department, told reporters during a press conference.

Maddrey continued, “Civilians, court officers, members of the police department, they run into the park, they make efforts to put him out, they use their coats, they use fire extinguishers. Eventually, the fire department of New York responders was able to extinguish the fire.” The incident happened right after the jury of twelve members and six alternates took their seats, and Judge Juan Merchan was taking a lunch break. It took place in a section of the plaza near where a small group of demonstrators had been every day since the trial started on Monday (except Wednesday).

Chief of Detectives for the NYPD, Joseph Kenny, stated that the information shared by Azzarello on social media and in pamphlets seemed to imply that the trial was a setting rather than a cause for his actions. “The pamphlet seems to be propaganda-based, almost like a conspiracy-theory-type of the pamphlet, some information in regards to Ponzi schemes, and the fact that some of our local educational institutes are a front for the mob,” he said, adding that Azzarello had no criminal history. The NYPD deputy commissioner, Tarik Sheppard, added that investigators did not find any link between Azzarello and Trump. 

“We do not believe this was targeting any particular person or a particular group. We just right now labeled him as a sort of conspiracy theorist and we’ll go from there, but the investigation will continue,” he said. A bystander revealed: “He made a noise and he threw all those pamphlets. It’s shocking. There’s some people crying in the park. There’s just nothing you can do.”

Meanwhile, as per NBC News, to keep adult film actress Stormy Daniels quiet about her claims that she had a sexual encounter with Trump at the end of the 2016 election campaign, he allegedly paid her $130,000. However, the Republican leader has entered a not-guilty plea to 34 charges of falsifying company documents connected to this payment. The 2024 GOP frontrunner has also refuted his relationship with Daniels.