US media reported citing witnesses that a man of young age set himself on fire outside the Manhattan court where former US president Donald Trump is facing a hush money trial, that entered its fourth day Friday.
The media reports indicate that the incident occurred after 1pm at the place where the protesters were allowed to demonstrate in lower Manhattan, however, the authorities say that the fire was extinguished minutes later.
Donald Trump is facing 34 charges of a felony in a hush money case for which he was indicted last year in March.
The condition of the young man is unclear as he was taken by authorities,
Reports indicate that as people witnessed the man in orange flames and smoke, they ran to extinguish the blaze and save him.
However, it was made difficult because the heat could be felt from several feet away.
An eyewitness, quoted by the New York Times, said that the man — wearing jeans and dark grey T-shirt — threw pamphlets into the air before he lit himself on fire.
“That caught our attention and — caught my attention, anyway … then he pulled out a can and he poured it over himself. And at that point, I thought, ‘Oh … this is gonna be awful.'”
“It happened so fast — what do you do,” another witness quoted by CBS.
The 77-year-old Trump alleged to have paid hush money to Stormy Denials in 2016 to silence her for his extramarital sexual encounter
