Man sets himself on fire outside Trump trial, motivated by conspiracy theories – National & International News – FRI 19Apr2024

Man sets himself on fire outside Trump trial, motivated by conspiracy theories.

Israel fires projectiles at Iran; Iran shrugs it off.

NATIONAL NEWS

Man sets himself on fire outside Trump trial

Trump’s hush-money trial is in its fourth day in New York City. The entire jury has finally been seated after numerous difficulties and dismissals.

Outside the courthouse as hearings were still underway, a man threw multi-colored pamphlets into the air, doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire. Individuals in the crowd around him at first tried to intervene but were unable to stop him. The crowd then dispersed in fear and horror. Because of the security barriers set up around the protest area, it took a couple of minutes for emergency workers to reach him with a fire extinguisher.

Some outlets have identified the man as Max Azzarello, 37, apparently of St. Augustine, FL. As of this writing, he is alive but in critical condition. The pamphlets he scattered around referenced the 2000 Bush v. Gore case at the Supreme Court which determined the outcome of the Presidential election that year.

Azzarello’s manifesto

A blog, published today, purports to belong to Mr. Azzarello, identifying himself as the man who self-immolated outside the courthouse, calling it an “extreme act of protest”. The author apologizes to his family, friends, witnesses and first responders “for inflicting this pain upon you”. He insists that this is pain a “drop in the bucket compared to what our government intends to inflict”.

The post strings together points of information with no obvious connection, either to each other, or to the author’s conclusions. However, the thesis is basically that crypto currency is a Ponzi scheme; that our government is a secret kleptocracy; and that the TV show “The Simpsons” is an attempt to brainwash the American public. The author reaches that conclusion because several of the people who work on the TV show went to Harvard, which the author describes as “one of the largest organized crime fronts in history”. The ultimate conclusion is that our government is steering us towards an “apocalyptic fascist world coup”. 

Azzarello seems not to be a fan of either of the major political parties or any of their leading figures. He describes the rivalry between the two parties as “kayfabe”, a term used to describe the staged performances and rivalries in professional wrestling. Azzarello once sued the Clinton Foundation, Newsweek reports. Representing himself, Azzarello accused Bill and Hillary Clinton’s charitable organization of being a front for an international money laundering scheme. A judge subsequently dismissed the case.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Israel fires projectiles at Iran; Iran shrugs it off

Last night, Israel carried out a retaliation for last week’s missile and drone attack by Iran. Reports conflict wildly with some sources saying Israel fired a missile and others saying they fired some drones. The target may have been an airbase but is more widely reported to have been a nuclear facility in Iran’s Isfahan province. Though damage was limited, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency called Israel’s targeting of an Iranian nuclear site “deplorable“.

Some reports say that Iran’s air defenses intercepted all the projectiles in the air, while some reports say there was an impact on the ground but minimal damage. Despite promises from Iran to respond fiercely to any attack on its soil by Israel, Iranian officials and media seem to have labeled Israel’s attack a failure and signaled they likely won’t respond. Though damage was limited, 

Last Saturday’s attack by Iran’s, which many have labeled “symbolic”, was a retaliation for Israel’s April 1 airstrike on its embassy in Damascus, Syria. Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen launched a total of 200-300 missiles and slow moving UAV drones. Hezbollah alone has over 100,000 missiles in its arsenal while Iran’s arsenal is estimated to greatly exceed that. Iran also gave the US, UK, and France three days’ notice to get assets in place to take down as many of the projectiles as possible. Jordan and Saudi Arabia also assisted with intercepting projectiles. The US alone shot down more than half of the projectiles, but some still got through Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system and struck two airbases.

After Iran’s strike, President Biden reportedly told Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, “You got a win. Take the win”. Biden urged Netanyahu not to retaliate and said the US would not participate in any retaliation. Britain, France and other allies soon took the same stance. After deliberating for a few days, Netanyahu and his cabinet decided to retaliate anyway, even though Iran promised that any strike back would be cause for a much bigger missile strike with no warning.