Chuck Darwin<p>A man who lit himself on fire Friday across the street from the Manhattan courthouse where former president Donald Trump is facing a criminal hush money trial is in critical condition, New York City police said. <a href="https://c.im/tags/Manhattan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Manhattan</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/DonaldTrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DonaldTrump</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/HushMoneyTrial" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>HushMoneyTrial</span></a></p><p>The man walked into Collect Pond Park at 1:30 p.m., removed several pamphlets from his backpack and tossed them on the ground, Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters. <a href="https://c.im/tags/CollectPondPark" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CollectPondPark</span></a></p><p>He then pulled out a canister of liquid accelerant, doused himself with it and lit himself on fire, the chief said. <a href="https://c.im/tags/LiquidAccelerant" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>LiquidAccelerant</span></a></p><p>The man took a few steps before falling onto a police barrier and then to the ground. <a href="https://c.im/tags/PoliceBarrier" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PoliceBarrier</span></a></p><p>Civilians and officers ran into the park, and used coats and fire extinguishers to try to put out the blaze before firefighters arrived and fully extinguished it. <a href="https://c.im/tags/Firefighters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Firefighters</span></a></p><p>Paramedics transported the man — identified by police as Maxwell Azzarello of St. Augustine, Fla. — to a hospital, where he was intubated, according to New York City fire officials. <a href="https://c.im/tags/MaxwellAzzarello" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MaxwellAzzarello</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/StAugustine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>StAugustine</span></a></p><p>Four police officers were treated for minor injuries. <a href="https://c.im/tags/PoliceOfficers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PoliceOfficers</span></a></p><p>The pamphlets Azzarello, 37, threw on the ground promoted various conspiracy theories, including ones about Ponzi schemes and local educational institutions being fronts for the mob, Joe Kenny, the police department’s chief of detectives, told reporters. <a href="https://c.im/tags/ConspiracyTheories" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ConspiracyTheories</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/PonziSchemes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PonziSchemes</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/EducationalInstitutions" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>EducationalInstitutions</span></a></p><p>Source: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/19/man-sets-himself-fire-near-trump-trial/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">washingtonpost.com/nation/2024</span><span class="invisible">/04/19/man-sets-himself-fire-near-trump-trial/</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/WashingtonPost" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WashingtonPost</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/ManOnFire" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ManOnFire</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/TrumpTrial" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TrumpTrial</span></a></p>