A person, who was later identified as Max Azzarello, self-immolated outside of the Manhattan courthouse where former president Donald Trump is on trial was pronounced dead the morning of April 20, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Azzarello was initially extinguished and rushed away by emergency services. He was in critical condition at Weill Cornell Medicine - Burn Center, according to a press conference held by the New York Police Department (NYPD).
The court, which was adjourned for Trump’s “hush money trial,” according to AP, was dismissed for a break. The recently selected jury, including a fifth alternate, is to hear a case in which Trump is being charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The court resumed the afternoon of April 19. Judge Juan M. Merchan is expected to hold a hearing on the prosecutor’s desire to question Trump, if he is to testify, regarding his recent civil court losses.
At this time, the NYPD cannot confirm that the self-immolation was related to the trial but labeled Azzarello as a "conspiracy theorist."
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