Man set himself on fire outside Trump trial courthouse

NEW YORK ( WPIX ) — A man set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former President Donald Trump was on trial Friday.

The man could be seen lying on the ground outside at a park across the street from the Manhattan courthouse. People rushed over to douse him with a fire extinguisher and try to bat the flames away. NewsNation crews at the courthouse witnessed court officers and New York police officers rushing toward the flames in a chaotic scene.

Emergency responders then rushed him away on a stretcher. He was in critical condition and being treated at a burn unit, New York City Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said Friday afternoon.

Four officers also had minor injuries from exposure to the fire.

The man had traveled to New York from St. Augustine, Florida, some time in the past week, investigators said in a Friday press conference. Police said that before he self-immolated, or set himself on fire, he had spread pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories in the park across the street from the courthouse. Officers did not draw any initial connection between the man’s actions and the trial of the former president.

“We do not believe that this was targeting any particular person or any particular group. We just right now are labeling it as a conspiracy theorist and we’re going from there, but the investigation will continue,” said Tarik Sheppard, deputy commissioner of public information for the New York City Police Department.

Protestors and counter-protestors have been gathered at the park all week as the first stages of the trial got underway. The New York Police Department said it would be re-evaluating its security protocols to see if changes were needed before the trial proceeds.

A full jury of 12 people and six alternates had been seated in Trump’s hush money case just minutes before the fire, drawing the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president a step closer to opening statements.

The trial centers on a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen , Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, made to porn actor Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the final days of the 2016 race.

Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of the payments in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.

Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He could get up to four years in prison if convicted, though it’s not clear that the judge would opt to put him behind bars. Trump would almost certainly appeal any conviction.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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