The man who set himself on fire outside Trump’s Manhattan hush money trial has died

The man who set himself on fire outside Trump’s Manhattan hush money trial has died

A man who set himself on fire outside a Manhattan courthouse where former President Donald Trump’s secret trial was held has died.

Maxwell Azzarello, 37, doused himself with the liquid before throwing conspiracy theory leaflets into the air.

It came as jury selection for Mr. Trump’s trial was completed.

He was taken to hospital on Friday in a critical condition, where he later died, CBS News – the BBC’s US partner – confirmed.

Mr Trump was in the building to attend jury selection, where he had a security detail, but the former president left during the incident.

New York City police said earlier on Saturday that Mr Azzarello had been pronounced dead by hospital staff, NBC reported.

Court security was not breached in Friday’s incident, emergency officials said. The case, which had just finished selecting an alternate jury, resumed in the afternoon. Opening statements are expected to begin on Monday.

Investigators said they received a 911 emergency call at about 13:30 local time (18:30 BMT) telling them that a man had set himself on fire.

They identified him as Maxwell Azzarello, 37, who arrived in New York from his home in Florida last week. He had no criminal record in New York, and his family in Florida was unaware that he had traveled to the city.

New York Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said Mr. Azzarello was seen “moving around” in the park before reaching into a bag for flammable liquids and leaflets.

The pamphlet was “propaganda-based”, Chief Maddrey said, adding that it was about “conspiracy theories”.

There was a large police presence outside the court because of the hearing, and officers quickly ran into the park shouting for fire extinguishers. Mr. Azzarello was taken away on a stretcher, badly burned. Police said he was taken to the hospital’s burn center in critical condition.

Witness Julie Berman told reporters: “It was hot, and it didn’t make sense. It all happened so fast… it took me 20 seconds to figure out what was going on.”

NYPD investigators were later seen collecting leaflets that Mr. Azzarello had scattered before setting himself on fire. They had deemed the area safe.

Investigators are still interviewing witnesses and say he did not appear to say anything before setting himself on fire.

Three NYPD officers and a court officer suffered minor injuries after helping put out the fire.

Officials said they will now reassess security outside the courthouse.