- A man set himself on fire outside the Manhattan courthouse, where Donald Trump is on trial.
- The fire was spotted in a park across from the courthouse.
- It is not known what motivated the self–immolation or the condition of the victim.
A person set himself on fire Friday outside the Manhattan courthouse, where Donald Trump’s criminal trial is taking place, witnesses and police sources told Business Insider.
The incident took place in a barricaded area across from the Manhattan criminal courthouse, where a full jury had just been selected for the former president’s historic trial.
Emergency responders received a 911 call at 1:37 p.m. and paramedics rushed a man to a local hospital in critical condition, according to an NYPD spokesperson.
“There are no further safety concerns at this time and the investigation is ongoing,” the spokesperson said.
In the park, a witness told Business Insider that he saw the man take out a can and pour something on himself before the fire.
“After dousing himself with something obviously flammable, he took out, I believe, a lighter and lit himself,” the man, an Upper Westside resident, told reporters.
The witness said people at the scene started shouting. The flames engulfed his entire body.
Before the fire, the man threw away around twenty pamphlets entitled “The True History of the World”.
In a Subtack article published Friday afternoon at the time of the incident, one individual claimed that he was the one who set himself on fire. His message, seen by Business Insider, was filled with conspiratorial rants about the US government.
“I am a researcher who set himself on fire outside of the Trump trial in Manhattan,” he wrote.
Witnesses said he was standing among a small group of pro-Trump protesters before the fire.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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