Man reportedly on fire outside of New York Trump trial

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Emergency crews doused the flames and man taken away on stretcher, according to witnesses; His condition was not known.

A man apparently set himself on fire outside of the Manhattan courthouse where former United States President Donald Trump is standing trial on criminal charges for falsifying business records.

Witnesses reported the man was covered in flames outside of the courthouse on Friday afternoon. Inside, the fourth day of the Trump trial was unfolding, with jury selection concluding.

A correspondent for CNN was reporting live on air when the incident occurred at a park across the street.

“There is chaos that is happening,” she said. “I can smell the burning of agent used.”

“We now have officers removing their coats, trying to surround his body to engulf him from further going into flames,” she said. “People are climbing over the barricade to try to separate the public from this man.”

A videoshowed the man still in flames and twitching on the concrete as a police officer rushed over with a fire extinguisher.

Politico reporter Emily Ngo said that police appeared to initially have trouble reaching the man due to barricades around the park.

There has been massive security at the trial as Trump faces felony charges related to hush money payments he allegedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Reporters from across the world have been staked out at the courthouse during the trial.

“very scary, active scene,” Ngo wrote on X.

“He was responsive when he was removed but he is very, very badly burned. Body charred,” she wrote.

Witnesses at the scene said that pro-Trump supporters were near the man when he apparently set himself on fire. They scattered as the blaze grew.

The man, whose identity was not immediately known, was carried away on a stretcher.

The man’s condition was not immediately known. A backpack and a gas can remained visible at the scene.

Moments before the incident, a full jury of 12 people and six alternates were seated for Trump’s trial, setting the stage for expected opening statements next week in the first criminal trial of a former US president.

The jury includes a sales professional, a software engineer, an English teacher and multiple lawyers.

Lawyers had spent days questioning dozens of New Yorkers to determine their ability to serve impartially. Dozens of potential jurors had been dismissed after saying they did not believe they could be fair in the case.

The judge has ruled that the jurors names will be known only to prosecutors, Trump and their legal teams.