Who was Max Azzarello? Everything we know about man who set himself on fire outside of Trump’s trial
MAX Azzarello died after setting himself on fire outside a Manhattan courthouse where former US President Donald Trump's trial is taking place.
The man was reportedly standing inside the designated protest area for Donald Trump supporters before dousing himself with an alcohol-based, liquid substance.
He then went on to receive a Master's degree in City and Regional Planning, Technology, and Urban and Community Development, graduating from Rutgers University in 2012.
His LinkedIn about section reads, "We've got a secret fascism problem.
"Peter Thiel started a bank run on Silicon Valley Bank last March, then I fell into a rabbit hole and learned all the secrets of the world.
"The big one? Cryptocurrency is our first planetary multi-trillion dollar Ponzi scheme that's about to collapse the world economy so our elites can try to fascist coup us.
"Join the united movement to abolish this rotten farce forever."
Azzarello lists himself as a self-employed Research Investigator, which he began in March 2023.
Previously, he served as a Solutions Engineer for OpenTen from December 2020 to October 2021, a Senior Consultant for Eigen X from July 2019 to June 2020, and a Marketing Operations Manager for Goliath Technologies LP from September 2018 to June 2019.
The majority of Azzarello's recent posts center around the conspiracy theories mentioned in his Substack.
These posts seemingly began shortly after the death of Azzarello's mother, Libby Azzarello, on April 6, 2022.
Before the blaze, Azarello reportedly tossed several pamphlets in the air, which included links to a Substack newsletter he authored titled The Ponzi Papers.
The Substack's heading, as of April 19, 2024, 4 pm ET, reads: "I have set myself on fire outside the Trump Trial.
Within minutes, dozens of police officers and civilians managed to smother the fire.
Max Azzarello was then seen being loaded into an ambulance and taken to Weill Cornell Medicine - Burn Center.
Maddrey also confirmed that police had swept the area looking for possible bombs, weapons, or explosives, but no devices were found.
What were Azzarello's pamphlets about?
Police described Azzarello's pamphlets as "propaganda-based".
They said: "Almost like a conspiracy theory-type of pamphlet, some information in regards to Ponzi schemes, and the fact that some of our local educational institutes are fronts for the mob.
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"So, a little bit of conspiracy theory going on here."
The pamphlets also contained conspiracy theories about several subjects, including Covid-19, cryptocurrency, Hollywood actors, former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore and Jeffrey Epstein.