The man who self-immolated outside a Manhattan court where former President Donald Trump was being tried has been identified as Max Azzarello, a 37-year-old from St. Augustine, Florida.
Azzarello, an “investigative researcher,” engaged in the extreme act of protest to draw attention to what he called a “totalitarian con” orchestrated by the government and its allies.
On Friday, shortly before setting himself on fire, Azzarello distributed pamphlets containing links to a Substack newsletter titled “The Ponzi Papers.” In a post from Friday, he outlined his reasons for the self-immolation, stating, “This is an act of revolution… to expose the apocalyptic fascist world coup looming over us.”
“My name is Max Azzarello, and I am an investigative researcher who has set himself on fire outside of the Trump trial in Manhattan,” he wrote. “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.”
The manifesto alleged widespread corruption involving cryptocurrencies and high-profile financial institutions. Azzarello claimed that events like last year’s bank failures were orchestrated to manipulate financial systems and ultimately, to perpetuate a Ponzi scheme benefiting the elite at the expense of the public.
You need to check in on your libtard relatives. These people are unwell. pic.twitter.com/Uc9a9PARXB
— John Doyle (@ComradeDoyIe) April 19, 2024
According to his writings, the scheme involved numerous corporate giants across various sectors including Google, Tesla, and Facebook. Azzarello argued that these corporations were integral to maintaining the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, which he described as “the first planetary multi-trillion-dollar Ponzi scheme”.
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The manifesto touches on various socio-political issues, accusing both major U.S. political parties of collusion in what Azzarello sees as a grand deception against the American people. “Stanford’s StartX.com and Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Program for Evolutionary Dynamics’…are filled with fraudulent companies that always collapse,” Azzarello wrote, implicating them as part of the broader scam.
He also commented on cultural influences such as The Simpsons and Seinfeld, which he believed are tools used to manipulate public perception and acceptance of a corrupt status quo. According to Azzarello, these popular media outlets are part of a scheme to “brainwash” Americans into accepting a dystopian life as normal.
Azzarello wrote, “To understand this story is to see right through the con, to become immune to the endless sea of criminal propaganda, and to feel the great joy and power that comes with freedom. I no longer have my original research files from the crypto rabbit hole. If you want to see them, you’ll have to get my laptop back from the government. Ask them how they got it – it’s a very fun story.”
He finished, “I hope you know how powerful you are. I wish you a hell of a lot more than luck.”
In the aftermath of his self-immolation, law enforcement is investigating the incident while trying to piece together Azzarello’s full motive. His family, unaware of his plans to travel to New York, were shocked by the events according to The New York Post.
Mental health professionals have highlighted the need to view Azzarello’s actions through a lens of psychological distress. As the Trump trial progresses, the effects of Azzarello’s dramatic protest are likely to continue to raise questions about mental health, political activism, and public deception.