A man set himself on fire outside a New York courthouse where the trial is taking place a Donald Trump for payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. According to the first information released by the CNNthe 37-year-old doused himself in petrol and started throwing leaflets in the air, pamphlets talking about evil billionaires and inviting them to “expose corruption”. A flyer, however, states that “New York University is a mafia”. Immediately afterwards he set himself on fire and only a few moments later did the police and medical help present on the scene arrive.
In the video circulating online it is possible to notice a man armed with a fire extinguisher, followed by a paramedic who intervened to provide help. The man was rushed to hospital and there are no updates on his health conditions. According to what has been reconstructed, a small demonstration was underway a few minutes before the fire. Trump was informed of the affair and had a conversation with a Secret Service agent. This is the reconstruction of a witness:“He started throwing leaflets around and then poured petrol on himself. He took out a match or lighter and completely set himself on fire. He knelt down as if he was praising someone. He didn’t say anything.”
The New York Post reports that the man left a manifest of 2,648 in which he identifies himself as an investigative researcher and claims to have sacrificed himself as“extreme act of protest” for a “totalitarian scam” and an imminent “apocalyptic fascist global coup d’état”. The newspaper also reveals that the 37-year-old filed a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan in April 2023 against more than 100 defendants, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, the country of Saudi Arabia, Mark Cuban, Richard Branson and Ross Perot. The twisting, conspiracy-filled case – filed by the man without a lawyer – alleged “an elaborate network of Ponzi schemes” dating back to the 1990s.
The lawsuit, however, was dismissed last October.
