Man Who Set Himself On Fire Outside Trump Trial Was Rutgers Grad

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The man who set himself on fire Friday outside the Manhattan courthouse of President Donald Trump's criminal trial received a master's degree from Rutgers University.

The man has since been identified as Max Azzarello, 37. He died at a hospital in New York City after setting himself on fire.

He received his master's degree in urban planning in 2012 from Rutgers. Prior to that, he graduated from University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, according to his LinkedIn account.

"A student named Maxwell Azzarello attended Rutgers University-New Brunswick and graduated in 2012 from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy with a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning with a major in Urban Planning and Policy Development," confirmed a Rutgers spokeswoman.

Azzarello's Instagram account showed he wrote often about his fears of a collapse of the global economy and to "abolish our criminal government." Friends told the New York Times he became more paranoid after the death of his mother in April 2022. His Instagram account has several posts mourning his mother.