The man doused himself w/a liquid around 1:35PM ET in Collect Pond Park, across the street from the courthouse. Onlookers screamed as bright orange flames engulfed the man. It was unclear what motivated his action.
People rushed over to try to extinguish the fire, but the intensity of the heat could be felt several hundred feet away.
After a few mins, dozens of police officers rushed over & tried to smother the flames. The man, who appeared to be alive, was loaded into an ambulance & rushed away.
The man was in an area of the park that was cordoned off for supporters of #Trump.
The man threw multicolored pamphlets in the air before lighting himself on fire.
It took several mins for officers to rush to the scene. A detective who was early to arrive tried to smother the man — who had collapsed — w/his coat to extinguish the flames. Soon, officers swarmed the scene & used a fire extinguisher.
The man was still moving as officers knelt beside him & asked his name. He was loaded into an ambulance & taken away.
A high-ranking PoliceDept ofcl identified the man as #MaxAzzarello, 37, of St. Augustine, Florida. Mr. Azzarello had appeared outside the courthouse on Thurs w/a sign displaying the address of a website where the same pamphlets were uploaded. The top post of the website says, “I have set myself on fire outside the #TrumpTrial.”
The pamphlets he threw into the air & published online before the incident espoused AntiGovernment #ConspiracyTheories.
In an interview that day, he said his critical views of the American govt were shaped by his research into #PeterThiel, the techn billionaire & political provocateur who is a major #Trump campaign donor.
#MaxAzzarello said he had planned to protest at Washington Square Park near NYU but thought that w/the cold weather, more people would be outside the courthouse.
“Trump’s in on it,” #MaxAzzarello said on Thurs. “It’s a secret kleptocracy, & it can only lead to an apocalyptic fascist coup.”
People who witnessed the fire said they were in disbelief as they saw Azzarello, who was in an area of the park reserved for supporters of #Trump, toss the pamphlets into the air & then flames shoot toward the sky. Azzarello, who was wearing jeans & dark gray T-shirt, fell to the ground amid the fire.
Some of the pamphlets referred to NYU as a “mob front” & also mentioned fmr Pres George W. Bush, fmr VP Al Gore & the lawyer David Boies, who represented Gore in the 2000 recount. Another pamphlet contained anti-govt conspiracy theories, though did not point in a discernible political direction.
Trump said Fri that a Colorado woman #convicted of 4 federal misdemeanor charges related to the Jan 6, 2021 #insurrection l is a “patriot” & shared a link on social media where people can donate money to help defray her legal expenses.
#US#Judge Royce C. #Lamberth is the latest in broad, public push by #FederalJudges against #Jan6#revisionism [Another] #Republican-appointed judge said he plans to send a written response to supporters of a Jan 6 rioter who claimed that he did nothing wrong, warning the man’s friends & family members that justifying #PoliticalViolence risks further #violence in a “vicious cycle” that “rots republics.”
In an unusual step, #US District #Judge Royce C. #Lamberth filed on the #public#docket the statement he prepared to sentence #TaylorJamesJohnatakis to >7 yrs in #prison. Even more atypically, he said he would order his clerk to mail copies to 20 people who wrote letters supporting the defendant — the first time he had done so in his 37-yr career — to explain his reasoning.
“January 6 must not become a precedent for further #violence against #political opponents or governmental institutions,” Judge #Lamberth wrote. “This is not normal. This cannot become normal. We as a #community, we as a #society, we as a country cannot condone the #normalization of the January 6 Capitol riot.”
Judge #Lamberth’s move is the latest in a wider public push by #FederalJudges in Washington to counter what polling shows is an uptick in public #acceptance of the #violent breach of the #US Capitol on #Jan6, 2021, fueled by Trump’s escalating rhetoric casting defendants as “political prisoners” & “hostages” who did nothing wrong. #Trump has pledged to pardon #J6#insurrection defendants, including those who assaulted police.
April 4, 1968, #CivilRights leader Reverend #MartinLutherKing Jr., was shot & killed while standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in #Memphis, #Tennessee. Considered one of the greatest Americans to ever live, he was assassinated 56 years ago today.
Today, the family of #CivilRights leader Rev #MartinLutherKing Jr. made a rare visit to #Memphis — where he was assassinated — to mark the 56th anniversary of his murder.
The King family members went to draw attention to what they see as a rising #threat of #PoliticalViolence today.
Rising numbers of people, particularly #Republicans, say such #violence may be necessary to "save our country” & coincides w/ #Trump stepping up his violent rhetoric.
King III says #civility in #politics is diminishing, & he worries that more lives will be lost unless the nation recommits itself to #nonviolence, as his father preached.
"We believe we have to go into difficult areas, to use our platform, to use our voice to lift up what we believe is #good, #just & #right. And so we're willing to make a sacrifice" to visit #Memphis despite the painful memories it brings, he said.
Trump said at a "messaging event" in #GrandRapids, #Michigan, "It's a very bad thing happening. It's going to end on the day that I take office, which will be Jan 20."
…A WaPo analysis of #Trump’s #SocialMedia posts since the start of his campaign in late 2022 showed that he has gone after #judges or their family members by name 138 times. The weeks of Mar 24 & Mar 17, respectively, included the 2nd & 4th highest number of posts attacking judges overall. Trump criticized judges most frequently during the wk of Jan 7, w/ 14 individual #attacks, nearly all targeted at #Engoron.
Trump’s attacks also come amid growing concerns about the #safety of federal #judges. Reuters found that #threats against fed judges have more than doubled since late 2020, when #Trump significantly increased his criticism of the #judiciary.
In #Georgia, #FultonCounty Superior Court Judge Scott #McAfee, who is presiding over a #Trump#criminal case involving allegations related to overturning the 2020 election results, has also faced #threats, including a #swatting incident at his #Atlanta-area home in Jan. A spox for the responding local PD said the investigation had been turned over to the #FBI.
#Republican-appointed judges raise alarm over #Trump attacks on #law
Federal DC Judge #ReggieWalton warned Trump’s attacks on #HushMoney trial judge & others could lead to #violence.
The Republican-appointed judge denounced Trump’s attacks against the judge presiding over his hush money trial in Manhattan & his daughter, calling them assaults on the #RuleOfLaw that could lead to violence & #tyranny.
“When judges are threatened, & particularly when their family is threatened, it’s something that’s wrong & should not happen,” US Dist Judge #ReggieWalton, told CNN in an interview Thurs. He added, “It is very troubling because I think it is an attack on the rule of law.”
Joshua Russell had pleaded guilty to a fed charge of making an interstate #threat against #Hobbs, a Dem who was AZ’s chief #elections officer in 2022 & is now the state’s gov.
…In a doc written by Russell & submitted to the court, Russell described his situation at the time he made the #threats, saying he was depressed & angry & that his drug use fueled his isolation.
“All I did was hide in bed all day scrolling thru #socialmedia & #political forums – looking at blogs or anything that could serve as an outlet for my pent up #anger…,” Russell wrote.
An account using the name & photo of #Michigan#BarryCounty Sheriff lawbreaker & [#ConspiracyTheorist] #DarLeaf released >2,100 pages of emails from employees of Dominion; the company says Leaf improperly accessed internal msgs via breach of a #CourtOrder.
“From social media calls to lynch Dominion personnel to a man #armed w/a #rifle who came to their offices, Dominion's employees have directly suffered the consequences of the lies spread by #PatrickByrne & his fellow defendants," #Dominion's lawyers wrote. "They now fear further threats due to conduct of his counsel done at his direction."
#Dominion's lawyers said the documents #StefanieLambert released showed no evidence of criminal activity.
"Best Dominion can tell, Byrne & Lambert's #xenophobic conclusion is that any email from non-U.S.-based Dominion personnel is conclusive evidence of criminal activity," the attorneys' emergency motion said.