Trump protestor Max Azzarello, 37, told friends he planned to be a martyr just ... trends now
The man who set himself on fire in front of the Manhattan court in which Trump’s hush money trial is being heard told friends of his intention to be a ‘martyr’ just days before committing his fatal act of protest.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, friend and neighbor Bob Warren, 62, who lived next door to Max Azzarello, 37, in Saint Augustine, Florida revealed, ‘It was just a few days before he went to New York, we were sitting around in the back there, drinking beers and he was playing his guitar, and we were talking.
‘He had some extreme views, some extreme ideology and he just said, “I think I’m going to have to just go be a martyr.”’
Tragically, Warren admitted, that no-one who was present to hear Azzarello’s threat took him seriously, but instead simply laughed it off as the ramblings of a man whom they knew as, ‘generally calm and a great guy,’ but who had in recent months become increasingly obsessed with conspiracy theories.
Neighbor Bob Warren, 62, revealed that Azzarello told friends of his intention to be a ‘martyr’ just days before committing his fatal act of protest
Max Azzarello, 37, seen outside Donald Trump's criminal trial on Friday with a sign, moments before he set himself on fire. He died hours later
Azzarello self-immolated in an act of protest, as shocked friends said he had delved into conspiracy theories before his suicide
Warren said, ‘He just moved into the apartment next door about three weeks ago, but he’d been coming over to hang out for about six, seven months before that.
‘He was a great guy. We used to chat. I’m a Trump supporter. He thought everyone was involved in some conspiracy so we would just stay away from some subjects. We got along fine.’
According to Warren, Azzarello had looked on the move as a positive change as, though his father, Richard, 71, lives locally, he had been living in a half-way house.
Warren described himself as, ‘completely shocked’ to learn that his friend had followed through on his threat.
He said, ‘I just keep thinking he probably changed his mind four or five seconds after he lit himself up.’
Azzarello pulled a bunch of pamphlets out of his backpack and threw them up in the air before dousing himself with fuel and accelerant at 1.39pm Friday afternoon.
He died of his injuries shortly before 11pm that night.
Today his white Toyota 4Runner truck sits where he left it outside his apartment building. ‘Trump is with Hillary, And they’re about to fascist coup us up,’ is written in permanent marker across the back.
The address of the website where he posted of his intention to self-emolliate and his belief that cryptocurrency is a vast Ponzi scheme being perpetrated against the American people is written beneath the license.
Warren said he was 'completely shocked' by his neighbor's actions, adding: ‘I just keep thinking he probably changed his mind four or five seconds after he lit himself up'
The neighbor said revealed, ‘It was just a few days before he went to New York, we were sitting around in the back
