Steph Deschamps / April 22, 2024
The man who set himself on fire on Friday April 19 outside the Manhattan courthouse in New York, where former President Donald Trump is on trial, has died, US media report this Saturday April 20, citing local police.
He set himself on fire at around 1:30 pm local time on Friday, in front of media crews deployed on the street to cover the trial. The reasons for this act are still unknown.
The victim, with both hands behind his head, turned into a living torch for several seconds before falling to the ground, according to a video of the scene posted on social networks. Police officers rushed to the man and a fire extinguisher was used against the blaze.
A witness to the scene, who identified himself as Dave, 73, described seeing the man throw writing into the air before opening a box, pouring the contents over himself and setting fire to it with a lighter.
The first former US president to appear in a criminal trial, Donald Trump is on trial in a case of concealed payments to buy the silence of a former X-rated film star, Stormy Daniels, just days before the 2016 election he won over Hillary Clinton.