Who was Max Azzarello? Everything we know about man who set himself on fire outside of Trump’s trial

MAX Azzarello died after setting himself on fire outside a Manhattan courthouse where former US President Donald Trump's trial is taking place.

The man was reportedly standing inside the designated protest area for Donald Trump supporters before dousing himself with an alcohol-based, liquid substance.

Who was Max Azzarello?

The man who set himself on fire on Friday, April 19, 2024 at 1:30 pm ET was identified as Maxwell Azzarello.

Azzarello, 37, was living in St. Augustine, Florida, and arrived in New York City earlier in the week.

His family had reportedly been unaware of his travels out of state.

According to his LinkedIn, Azzarello graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and Public Policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005.

He then went on to receive a Master's degree in City and Regional Planning, Technology, and Urban and Community Development, graduating from Rutgers University in 2012.

His LinkedIn about section reads, "We've got a secret fascism problem.

"Peter Thiel started a bank run on Silicon Valley Bank last March, then I fell into a rabbit hole and learned all the secrets of the world.

"The big one? Cryptocurrency is our first planetary multi-trillion dollar Ponzi scheme that's about to collapse the world economy so our elites can try to fascist coup us.

"Join the united movement to abolish this rotten farce forever."

Azzarello lists himself as a self-employed Research Investigator, which he began in March 2023.

Previously, he served as a Solutions Engineer for OpenTen from December 2020 to October 2021, a Senior Consultant for Eigen X from July 2019 to June 2020, and a Marketing Operations Manager for Goliath Technologies LP from September 2018 to June 2019.

He also had roles as a:

• Growth Manager for Strong Towns from January 2017 to August 2018
• Consultant for Small Business Consulting from May 2016 to August 2018
• Assistant Operations Manager for the Liberty Hill Foundation from July 2014 to May 2016
• Operations Director for Bera for Congress from January to April 2014
• Operations Director for Friends of Tom Suozzi from August to November 2013
• General Manager for Carleton Energy Consulting from May 2012 to July 2013
• Program Associate for Arts Build Communities from November 2011 to May 2012
• Research Assistant for the Eagleton Institute of Politics from September 2010 to September 2011
• Marketing and Administrative Assistant for Brady Risk Management, Inc. from January to August 2010
• Residence Hall Community Manager for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from August 2008 to May 2009

Beyond a Substack, Azzarello didn't seem to be active on social media beyond Instagram.

Both Azzarello's sister's Instagram profile, and his brother-in-law's profile, are currently private.

The majority of Azzarello's recent posts center around the conspiracy theories mentioned in his Substack.

These posts seemingly began shortly after the death of Azzarello's mother, Libby Azzarello, on April 6, 2022.

On August, 21 2023 he was arrested in Florida for disturbing the police.

However he was released the next day.

He then was taken custody again three days later for damaging property and criminal mischief.

Azzarello remained in St. Johns County Jail until October 3, 2023 and was released with a 180 days of probation.

Did Max Azzarello light himself on fire?

On Friday, April 19, 2024, at around 1:30 pm ET in Collect Pond Park, Max Azzarello doused himself in what investigators believe to be gasoline before setting himself on fire.

The incident occurred across the street from the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, "where Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to an adult film actress during the 2016 election," as reported by Newsweek.

Before the blaze, Azarello reportedly tossed several pamphlets in the air, which included links to a Substack newsletter he authored titled The Ponzi Papers.

The Substack's heading, as of April 19, 2024, 4 pm ET, reads: "I have set myself on fire outside the Trump Trial.

"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."

What did police say about the incident?

Police responded relatively quickly to the incident despite barriers between the protest area and the courthouse.

Witnesses near the courthouse and Collect Pond Park, where the self-immolation occurred, reported that the "intensity of the heat" could be felt from hundreds of feet away, as reported by the New York Times.

Within minutes, dozens of police officers and civilians managed to smother the fire.

Max Azzarello was then seen being loaded into an ambulance and taken to Weill Cornell Medicine - Burn Center.

The New York Fire Department said he was in critical condition.

A high-ranking police department official, who wishes to remain anonymous, also confirmed Azzarello's identity to The New York Times.

The New York Police Department confirmed that Azzarello had removed pamphlets from a backpack shortly before the blaze started.

Investigators also confirmed that a combination of courtroom employees, civilians, and police officers worked together to stop the fire from spreading after the accelerant Azzarello used spread to an area of the park.

"We are very concerned," NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said, referring to the security protocols outside the courthouse.

“This man did not breach security.”

"Of course, we are going to review our security protocols," he added, as reported by WPTV News.

Maddrey also confirmed that police had swept the area looking for possible bombs, weapons, or explosives, but no devices were found.

What were Azzarello's pamphlets about?

Police described Azzarello's pamphlets as "propaganda-based".

They said: "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 fronts for the mob.

"So, a little bit of conspiracy theory going on here."

The pamphlets also contained conspiracy theories about several subjects, including Covid-19, cryptocurrency, Hollywood actors, former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore and Jeffrey Epstein.