New York:

A man has died after setting himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.

The 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.

NBC 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.

Officials had said earlier the man, who was in his late 30s, was in critical condition.

Witnesses 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 “evil billionaires” but portions that were visible to a Reuters witness did not mention Trump.

The 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.

“Right now we are labeling him as sort of a conspiracy theorist, and we are going from there,” Tarik Sheppard, a deputy commissioner with the Police Department, said at a news conference.

In 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 “an apocalyptic fascist coup” and criticizes cryptocurrency and U.S. politicians, but does not single out Trump in particular.

A 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.

The downtown Manhattan courthouse, heavily guarded by police, drew a throng of protesters and onlookers on Monday, the trial’s first day, though crowds have dwindled since then.

JURY SELECTION COMPLETED

The 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.

The 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.

The 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.

Trump 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.

Trump 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.

Trump 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.

A conviction would not bar him from office.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The man who set himself on fire outside the New York court where Donald Trump’s hush money trial was set to begin on Friday, threw a stack of pamphlets in the air containing conspiracy theories, before immolating himself.

The man, identified as Max Azzarello, who had travelled to New York from Florida, is alive but in a critical condition.

“(They were) almost like a conspiracy theory type of pamphlet, some information in regards to Ponzi schemes, and the fact that some of our local educational institutes are a front for the mob,” senior police officer Joseph Kenny said.

The pamphlets contain link to a newsletter titled “The Ponzi Papers” where Mr Azzarello shared several theories linking crypto billionaires, former US president Bill Clinton, sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Hollywood actor Rob Lowe to an “apocalyptic fascist world coup”.

“I have set myself on fire outside the Trump Trial,” read the title of the over 2,600 word manifesto outlining the self-described investigative researcher’s multiple theories.

“My name is Max Azzarello, and I am an investigative researcher who has set himself on fire outside of the Trump trial in Manhattan. This extreme act of protest is to draw attention to an urgent and important discovery: We are victims of a totalitarian con, and our own government (along with many of their allies) is about to hit us with an apocalyptic fascist world coup,” it reads.

The manifesto also includes photos of printed pamphlets containing similar theories including titles like “The True History of the World (Haunted Carnival Edition)”, “NYU is a Mob Front” and “D—–t Secrets of our Rotten World”.

Days before the self-immolation, Mr Azzarello was pictured holding a sign while protesting outside the same courthouse which read “Trump is with Biden and they’re about to fascist coup us.” After the news of the act, several videos of Mr Azzarello reading out parts of his manifesto as well as singing and calling on viewers to start a revolution have gone viral.

A photo of a younger, smiling Azzarello with Bill Clinton has also surfaced on social media. Mr Clinton is one of the 100 influential people Mr Azzarello sued in a conspiracy theory filled case that was tossed out by the court last year.

Police said they have “labelled him a sort of conspiracy theorist” and investigating the incident. “His condition is not good, but as of now he is still alive,” they added.