- Police named the man who set himself on fire in NYC Friday as Max Azzarello
The man who set himself on fire outside former president Donald Trump‘s Manhattan trial has been named as Florida native resident Max Azzarello.
Azzarello, 37, is in critical condition after setting himself on fire on Friday.
He described himself as an investigative researcher in a blog post published just hours before he self-immolated as horrified witnesses and CNN cameras watched.
Before setting himself on fire, Azzarello dropped fliers that included a link to a Substack post explaining his actions.
The blog was titled: ‘I have set myself on fire outside the Trump Trial.’
The man who set himself on fire outside former president Donald Trump ‘s Manhattan trial has been named as Florida native resident Max Azzarello.
The dramatic moment took place on day four of the former president’s hush money trial in Manhattan
The conspiracy theorist claimed on the blog post that his ‘extreme act of protest’ was to draw light to what he called a ‘totalitarian con.’
He wrote the government was ‘about to hit us with an apocalyptic fascist world coup.’
Azzarello added: ‘To my friends and family, witnesses and first responders, I deeply apologize for inflicting this pain upon you. But I assure you it is a drop in the bucket compared to what our government intends to inflict.’
Azarello travelled to New York City a week ago, saying on his Instagram he would be staying at Washington Square Park.
On his LinkedIn profile, where he seemingly appears in a photo with Bill Clinton, Azzarello wrote: ‘We’ve got a secret fascism problem.’
His profile claims he has been self-employed since March of 2023.
Azarello received an undergraduate diploma in anthropology and public policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009.
He went on to get a Master’s degree in city and regional planning in Rutgers University in New Jersey in 2012.
Last year he filed a lawsuit against the Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, Binance, Peter Thiel, Mark Cuban, Richard Branson and Mark Zuckerberg, among a dozen other entities.
His complaint reads: ‘Each of the defendants has knowingly conspired, participated in, benefitted financially from a decades-long fraudulent scheme.’
In bizarre Instagram posts, Azarello stares at the camera and sings about starting a revolution.
An hour before he self immolated, Azarello posted a text in his Instagram story that just repeated the words ‘i love you.’
An hour before he self immolated, Azarello posted a text in his Instagram story that just repeated the words ‘I love you.’
Azarello was arrested for disturbing the peace last year.