Who is the self-described ‘investigative researcher’ Max Azzarello who set self on fire outside Trump trial after spewing conspiracy theories
The Florida man who lit himself on fire outside the Manhattan courthouse where former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial was unfolding Friday is a self-described “investigative researcher” who appeared to become more erratic over the last year and spewed conspiracy theories about the “elites” in a lengthy manifesto.
Max Azzarello, 37, of St. Augustine, Fla., tossed a stack of pamphlets into the air, which included links to a Substack newsletter apparently authored by the self-immolator called “The Ponzi Papers” moments before he doused himself in gasoline and set himself ablaze in Collect Pond Park.
At the top of the site is an article with the headline “I have set myself on fire outside of the Trump Trial,” followed by a rambling manifesto riddled with conspiracy theories on everything from cryptocurrency and Hollywood actors to COVID and former President Bill Clinton.
“My name is Max Azzarello, and I am an investigative researcher who has set himself on fire outside of the Trump trial in Manhattan,” the nearly 2,700-word posting begins.
“This extreme act of protest is to draw attention to an urgent and important discovery: We are victims of a totalitarian con, and our own government (along with many of their allies) is about to hit us with an apocalyptic fascist world coup.”
He also mentioned The Simpsons, the bank failures in 2023 and high-profile businessmen including Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
He claimed both Republicans and Democrats have bombarded the public with different existential crises to present a doomsday scenario.
Azzarello claimed “elites” have peddled fear in a bid to “gobble up all the wealth they could and then yank the rug out from under us so they could pivot to a hellish fascist dystopia.”
Police said he made the trip up to the Big Apple sometime earlier this week, and his family had been unaware he had traveled to the city.
He was pictured outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse at 100 Centre St. just on Thursday, holding up a sign that said “Trump is with Biden and they’re about to fascist coup us.”
“Biggest scoop of your life or your money back!” he shouted at a group of reporters gathered there, telling The New York Times he had come over from Washington Square Park because he thought more people would be outside the courthouse due to the cold.
“Trump’s in on it,”Azzarello told the Times on Thursday, saying his beliefs were influenced by his digging into Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist and big political donor.
“It’s a secret kleptocracy, and it can only lead to an apocalyptic fascist coup.”
A 2017 blog post by the nonprofit Strong Towns, which has since been taken offline, features Max Azzarello and announces him as their new growth manager.
In his blurb, Azzarello alludes to his “childhood town” as a “charming, friendly, eclectic community in Long Island, New York.”
The civic engagement-focused organization says Azzarello’s “passions” include “chess, creative writing, and Medieval Scandinavian poetry.”
Azzarello appeared to host a podcast with another person dedicated to actress Laura Dern called “Dern After Reading Podcast” dating back to early 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the United States.
His LinkedIn profile picture shows him posing with Bill Clinton, whom he sued last year along with 100 other influential defendants in a conspiracy theory-tinged case that was tossed out last October when he failed to follow up with required court filings.
Other defendants named in the 2023 suit in Manhattan federal court included Mark Cuban, Richard Branson, the country of Saudi Arabia, and Texas billionaire and 1992 Independent presidential candidate Ross Perot, who died in 2019.
The meandering case — filed by Azzarello, without a lawyer — alleged “an elaborate network of Ponzi schemes” dating back to the 1990s and continuing through 2023.
At an NYPD press conference held shortly after Azzarello was stretchered into an ambulance, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny called the incident “propaganda”-based.
“We’re looking through his social media and what he did online prior and it does appear he posted something online prior to this incident,” Kenny said.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry added: “This wasn’t targeting any particular person, right now we’re labeling it as a conspiracy theorist, the investigation will continue.”
Additional reporting by Priscilla DeGregory, Jennie Taer and David Propper
