Man identified by police as Max Azzarello, from Florida, declared dead after incident outside lower Manhattan courthouse
A man has died after setting himself on fire outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush-money trial is taking place.
The New York City police department said on Saturday the man had been declared dead by staff at an area hospital.
Officials had said earlier the man, who was in his late 30s, was in critical condition.
The New York police department said the man, who they identified as Max Azzarello of St Augustine, Florida, did not appear to be targeting Trump or others involved in the trial.
Witnesses said the man pulled pamphlets out of a backpack and threw them in the air before he doused himself with a liquid and set himself on fire on Friday. One of those pamphlets included references to “evil billionaires” but portions that were visible to a Reuters witness did not mention Trump.
While I do think that we do need universal mental health care (and universal health care in general), I’m not sure it would have helped in this situation. The thing about mental health care is that you can’t force it on anyone, they have to want it themselves. He had friends who tried to get him help but he wouldn’t take it, and there’s only so much that can be done if he refuses. It’s like the old saying you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.