Man claiming to be individual who set himself on fire outside of courthouse has Philly ties

The man who set himself on fire outside the New York courthouse where former President Donald Trump is on trial appears to have connections to the Philadelphia and South Jersey region.

In a blog post uploaded Friday afternoon, Maxwell Azzarello says he self-immolated to draw attention to his “discovery” that a tangled conspiracy involving cryptocurrency is being perpetrated on Americans.

“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 blog post begins.

The New York Post reports that New York police have identified the man as Max Azzarello, 37, of St. Augustine, Florida.

A LinkedIn page under Maxwell Azzarello’s name shows his location as Philadelphia, and public records indicate someone of the same name lives in the city, with ties to Florida.

According to the page Azzarello worked as a self-employed "research investigator" from March 2023 to present in the St. Augustine area.

Before that, he had several jobs listed in the Philadelphia area. The page lists no job history from October 2021 to March 2023.

The About section of the LinkedIn page refers to the same concerns the Ponzi Papers blog focuses on.

Donald Trump trial live updates:Man self-immolates outside Manhattan criminal courthouse

“Cryptocurrency is our first planetary multi-trillion dollar Ponzi scheme that's about to collapse the world economy so our elites can try to fascist coup us,” it reads.

That LinkedIn profile also says Azzarello holds a master’s degree in “city and regional planning” from Rutgers University and a bachelor’s in anthropology and public policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

That syncs with an address for a Maxwell Azzarello listed in a lawsuit filed in April 2023 in Florida alleging dozens of defendants are involved in a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.

Max Azzarello update:Man with Philly ties is dead, after he lit himself on fire outside Trump courthouse

The man who set himself on fire did not make clear his motive outside the courthouse, according to published reports. He did so in front of news crews late Friday morning.