Chilling images show conspiracy theorist stalking Trump's trial with protest ... trends now
Photographs show how a suspected conspiracy theorist stalked Donald Trump's hush money trial in Manhattan with protest signs for at least two days before setting himself on fire outside.
Max Azzarello, a 37-year-old from St. Augustine, Florida, is seen holding a sign a outside the Manhattan criminal courthouse on April 18 in the image, unearthed as police identified as the man who set himself on fire the next day.
'Trump is with Biden and they're about to facist coup us,' Azzarello's sign reads, outside the courthouse where the historic trial was taking place. The day before, he held a sign critical of New York University, according to The New York Times.
Now in critical condition, he made a series of social media posts about pop star Taylor Swift in the weeks building up the display, said to be 'an 'extreme act of protest...[against] a totalitarian con, and our own government' on his own Substack.
He went on to write how this regime 'is about to hit us with an apocalyptic facist world coup,' just months after a series of arrests in Florida for incidents that took place in August last year, including hurling a drink at a photo of Bill Clinton.
Oddly, the alleged research investigator is seen smiling in an undated photo with the former president, writing, 'we have a secret facist problem.'
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Max Azzarello, a 37-year-old from St. Augustine, Florida , is seen holding a sign a outside the Manhattan criminal courthouse on April 18 in the image
It was unearthed as police identified as the man who set himself on fire the next day. Officers rushed over and tried to help him Friday afternoon as the fire burned. He doused himself in an alcohol substance before taking a lighter to his clothes
'Trump's in on it,' Azzarello reportedly told the Times on Thursday, saying his beliefs were influenced by research he had carried out into Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist behind companies like PayPal and Facebook.
'It's a secret kleptocracy, and it can only lead to an apocalyptic fascist coup,' he said.
Those quotes were offered as Trump's criminal trial entered its third day of jury selection over alleged falsified business records related to payments made to an ex-porn star during his campaign.
The GOP frontrunner was indicted last April, and denies any wrongdoing.
The next day, as day four was unfolding, the self-described 'investigative researcher' tossed a stack of pamphlets into the air, which included links to a Substack newsletter he penned touted as 'The Ponzi Papers'
Second later, he horrified onlookers as he covered himself in gasoline and set himself ablaze in Collect Pond Park, in full view of local and national new crews.
In an article authored hours before with the headline 'I have set myself on fire outside of the Trump Trial,' the suspect spewed conspiracy theories about the 'elites', crypto, Hollywood, COVID, and Clinton, who apparently has been a fascination of Azzarello's in recent years.
DailyMail.com has gained some insight into that fascination, learning the activist had recently completed 180 days probation for a string of incidents involving disorderly conduct and destruction of property - and overall erratic, 'rambling' behavior - in The Sunshine state.
DailyMail.com obtained criminal complaints for each, all taking place within a matter of days in August.
On his LinkedIn profile, a younger Azzarello appears in a photo with Bill Clinton - a figure of fascination for him in recent years, posts on social media show. In an accompanying cation to his bio, the suspected conspiracy theorist writes, 'We've got a secret fascism problem'
Azarello, seen here in a August 24, 2023, mugshot, had recently completed 180 days probation for a string of incidents over disorderly conduct and destruction of property in Florida, where cops and members of the public cited his erratic and 'rambling' behavior
DailyMail.com has obtained three criminal complaints of the incidents - all of which took place in August last year
In one, officers wrote how Azzarello, 37, threw a glass of wine at a framed and autographed photograph of Bill Clinton displayed in the lobby of the Casa Monica Hotel in his hometown of Saint Augustine, Florida, on August 19 of this past year. He is listed as unemployed
Azzarello was arrested several time last year in the Sunshine State for breach of the peace
Fliers spotted at the scene of the self-immolation shortly after it occurred. It has not been confirmed if they belong to the victim
The pamphlets found at the scene link to a Substack curated by the self-described 'investigative researcher'
The tragedy unfolded while former president Trump (pictured on Friday morning) was inside the courthouse
On his Substack - where he previously ranted about Clinton and the current state of the US government - Azzarello wrote that he set himself on fire in an act of extreme political protest
'Trump's in on it,' Azzarello reportedly told the Times on Thursday, saying his beliefs were influenced by research he had carried out into Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist behind companies like PayPal and Facebook
'It's a secret kleptocracy, and it can only lead to an apocalyptic fascist coup,' the anti-establishment conspiracy theorist said
In the first of three, cops wrote how Azzarello threw a glass of wine at a framed and autographed photograph of President Bill Clinton displayed in the lobby of the Casa Monica Hotel in his hometown of Saint Augustine the evening of August 19, 2023,
The complaint, which lists him as unemployed, notes that the incident took place as Azzarello had just finished dinner at the hotel's restaurant.
He went on to launch the glass at the image, breaking the glass on the framed photograph and damaging it with wine.
Then, two days later, on August 21, Azzarello was arrested again in the Case Monica. where he was reported for, 'standing outside, stripping his clothes off and yelling at customers.'
When cops arrived, they noted how the suspect was 'wearing nothing but his underwear, standing on the sidewalk[, and] holing [sic] a speaker blasting music and yelling.'
The hotel manager told officers that customers were 'scared for their safety', and that many were unable to enter or exit for fear of being caught up in his episode.
On August 24, he was arrested once more for graffitiing property and rifling through a woman's belongings in the flatbed of her truck, after allegedly being seen yelling in someone's yards after 'misinterpreting' an exterminator's sign warning people to keep their children and pets off a lawn that had just been treated.
Cops, at the time, wrote how the conspiracy theorist was convinced the pest control company was 'there to exterminate children and dogs.'
