Max Azzarello was identified by New York police as the Florida man who set himself on fire outside the Trump trial in New York on April 19. His choice of location for the act of self-immolation has some wondering about his politics. Was Azzarello a Democrat or Republican?
A review of his social media posts, lawsuit, and manifesto reveal that he wrote that he had worked for two Democratic political campaigns years ago and once wore a Bernie Sanders T-shirt; he posed with conservative Newt Gingrich while wearing it, though. His profile picture on LinkedIn appears to show him with President Bill Clinton, whom he sued.
However, by the time he lit himself on fire, Azzarello’s beliefs appear to have spiraled into a stew of anti-government conspiracy theories in which he railed at both the Democratic and Republican parties and politicians.
In fact, he directed ire at both former Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. His beliefs on social media are a stew of anger toward cryptocurrency, Peter Thiel, billionaires, and the government.
On social media, Azzarello posted videos calling for “revolution” and wrote, “We are in a totalitarian doomsday cult.” He was outside the Trump trial courthouse on Thursday as well, The New York Times reported, and he criticized Trump to reporters.
In a press conference, the NYPD said that Azzarello walked into a park near the Trump trial courthouse and doused himself with an accelerant, threw conspiracy theory-laden “propaganda” pamphlets into the air, and then set himself on fire. He is in extremely critical condition, police said. The graphic scene was captured on video. He was most recently from St. Augustine, Florida, according to the NYPD. Public records show he has ties to New Jersey.
In August 2023, he wrote on Facebook, “Three days in the psych ward and all I got were my new favorite socks.”
Here’s what you need to know about Max Azzarello’s politics:
In a Manifesto & on Social Media, Max Azzarello, Who Sang About Revolution, Was Critical of Politicians From Both Parties & Indicated That He Believed They Were All the Same
Instagram (Max Azzarello)Max Azzarello.
Azzarello sang about “revolution” on social media. Azzarello also plastered the manifesto on his Facebook page. On Facebook, he linked to two Reddit pages, but they are suspended.
“Start a “f****** revolution,” he sang on Instagram in January. “You’ve got nothing to lose.” Another Instagram post showed him posing as an Uncle Sam-like figure, pointing at the camera. It read, “I want you to tear down a haunted carnival.” His writings make it clear that he was angry at both political parties and the government in general.
Heavy has located Azzarello’s manifesto, on which he writes, “My name is Max Azzarello, and I am an investigative researcher who has set himself on fire outside of the Trump trial in Manhattan.”
On a LinkedIn page and Instagram page in which Azzarello makes similar claims as his manifesto, which was published on substack. “We’re victims of a bi-partisan, totalitarian con that will soon collapse the economy,” he wrote on Instagram. His social media pages rail on the wealthy and are critical of politicians of both political parties, including Democrat Bill Clinton and, in one reference, Republican Donald Trump. Despite the fact that the self-immolation appeared outside Trump’s trial, the social media and manifesto did not appear to make many references to Trump.
“That Bill Clinton was secretly on (former CIA Director) George H.W. Bush’s side, and that the Democrat vs. Republican division has been entirely manufactured ever since: Clinton is with Bush; Gore is with Bush; Trump is with Hillary, and so on,” the manifesto reads, claiming, “As it turns out, we have a secret kleptocracy: Both parties are run by financial criminals whose only goals are to divide, deceive, and bleed us dry.”
The lengthy manifesto says, “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 NYPD confirmed that Azzarello had posted information relating to the fire on social media. NYPD said he was not on their radar before this incident but indicated police would scrub his social media.
Max Azzarello Wrote That He Once Worked for 2 Democratic Congressmen, Although It Was Years Ago
On LinkedIn, Azzarello wrote that he had worked in 2013 and 2014 for California Democratic Congressman Ami Bera and Democratic New York Representative Tom Suozzi.
He posted a photo of himself on Instagram wearing the Bernie Sanders shirt in 2015, writing, “Hey guys I got to meet @berniesanders!” But the man with him in the photo is not Sanders and looks like Newt Gingrich. It appears to be from a 2015 Politicon event.
A LinkedIn page in the name Max Azzarello makes claims about Peter Thiel, shares a post about deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein, and contains a profile picture showing a man that appears to be Azzarello with President Bill Clinton.
The LinkedIn page says Azzarello is from the Philadelphia area and reads, “We’ve got a secret fascism problem.”
The LinkedIn page says Azzarello is a self-employed research investigator in St. Augustine, Florida, who has worked as a solutions engineer, and as a senior consultant for a Philadelphia professional services firm.
LinkedIn (Max Azzarello)Max Azzarello LinkedIn entries.
He also worked as a “marketing operations manager” in Philadelphia, as a consultant, and as an assistant operations manager for a foundation in Los Angeles. The LinkedIn page says he was “operations director” for “Bera for Congress in Sacramento, California, and “operations director” for “Friends of Tom Suozzi,” in Nassau County, New York. Both men are Democratic congressmen.
For the Bera campaign, he wrote that he “Performed donor research and outreach, report generation, customized fundraising campaigns, data mining and data cleaning using NGP and Excel.” For the Suozzi campaign, he wrote that he helped “Lead various projects such as preparing the candidate for debates, organizing commercial shoots, planning logistics for campaign rallies, and completing interest group questionnaires.”
The LinkedIn page says he also worked as general manager for an energy consulting firm, as a program associate for an arts build communities company, and as a research assistant for Eagleton Institute of Politics.
The page says he has a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning, Technology, and Urban and Community Development from Rutgers University and a bachelor’s degree in Arts, Anthropology, and Public Policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Max Azzarello Criticized Trump to Reporters the Day Before the Self-Immolation, Reports Say
According to The New York Post, the day before he set himself on fire, Azzarello was outside the courthouse with a sign that read, “Trump is with Biden and they’re about to fascist coup us,” before shouting, “Biggest scoop of your life or your money back!” at reporters.
“Trump’s in on it,” Azzarello told The New York Times on Thursday.
The manifesto makes accusations against Peter Thiel, a tech billionaire who was a supporter of Trump but grew disenchanted with the former president, according to The Hill.</a
The manifesto has strong words for former President Clinton. It reads,
To better understand our form of government, I will point you to one of the most astonishing pieces of stand-alone evidence I’ve found: Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton’s 1988 DNC speech where he nominated Mike Dukakis for president against George H.W. Bush. The speech is a vile, mean-spirited roast of Dukakis that makes no sense whatsoever: For Clinton to ruthlessly attack a member of his own party should have been political suicide, and he repeatedly mocks Dukakis’ noble and earnest qualities.
In March, Azzarello shared the cover of the manifesto on Instagram and wrote, “If you’re wondering what the future’s history books will say, it’s this! What a time to be alive.” He referred to it as an “occupy returns booklet” and said, “Our only goal: Abolish our criminal government and replace it with one that serves all.”
The New York Times reported that the flyers “also mentioned former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Al Gore, and the lawyer David Boies, who represented Mr. Gore in the 2000 presidential election recount. Another pamphlet contained anti-government conspiracy theories.”
Max Azzarello filed a federal lawsuit against Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton. “Azzarello v. Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation et al,” it is titled. The lawsuit gives his full name as Maxwell Crosby Azzarello.
“Here is a federal lawsuit I filed against dozens of perpetrators of the cryptocurrency Ponzi – not for litigation, but just to preserve the information and attach my name to it. I was terrified and hadn’t slept in days and it shows, but it served its purpose of keeping myself alive long enough to keep learning and telling this story,” he wrote, linking to the federal Pacer site.
The lawsuit also targeted a number of prominent people from Zuckerberg to Mark Cuban.
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