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
