Maxwell Crosby Azzarello, the man believed to have lit himself on fire outside the Trump hush money trial in Manhattan earlier today, is a left-wing activist who The National Pulse is told worked on the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. According to an individual who has known Azzarello for many years, he suffered from mental illness and was involuntarily committed at least once in the last year.

“This is truly awful. He was actually a nice guy,” the friend told The Pulse. Despite his leftist politics, Azzarello maintained friendships with conservatives as well. The individual we spoke with works in Republican Party politics.

“THE PONZI PAPERS.”

Azzarello posted an explanation for his self-immolation on his Substack page, entitled “The Ponzi Papers.” His post begins, “My name is Max Azzarello, and I am an investigative researcher who has set himself on fire outside of the Trump trial in Manhattan.”

“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,” he wrote before addressing his act of self-immolation: “To my friends and family, witnesses and first responders, I deeply apologize for inflicting this pain upon you. But I assure you it is a drop in the bucket compared to what our government intends to inflict.”

Azzarello accuses billionaire investor Peter Thiel of purposefully inciting a bank run last year, causing the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. The purpose of the bank run was part of a larger scheme by individuals involved with cryptocurrency to fake a banking crisis so they could move money out of the banks without the public or media noticing. According to Azzarello, who describes himself as an independent researcher, “the banks were used to move out stolen Ponzi money. This signals that they’re no longer dumping cash in to keep the cryptocurrency Ponzi afloat, and that it will soon go insolvent, as all Ponzis must.”

He goes on to claim that when the Ponzi scheme collapses, “it will take down half the stock market” and is the cause of global inflation. Azzarello additionally alleges the U.S. government unleashed the COVID-19 pandemic to cover up the stock market distortions caused by the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.

CLINTON AND BUSH CONSPIRACIES.

The rest of his Substack post is a mix of Clinton and Bush family conspiracies that he claims tie them to Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Numerous individuals outside the Manhattan courthouse reported Azzarello was carrying a sign that read: “Trump is with Biden, and they’re about to fascist coup us.” On the back of his sign was a link to his Substack page.

On April 14, 2023, he filed a lawsuit against the Clintons, Thiel, Sam Bankman-Fried, the Winklevoss twins, Joshua Kushner, Anthony Scarramucci, and dozens of others over the alleged cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, which he claims is bringing down the global economy.

ARRESTED IN FLORIDA.

In August of last year, he was arrested in St. John’s County, Florida, for “criminal mischief” and “disturbing the peace.” According to Azzarello’s friend, he has at least two sisters – one who works in television production in New York City and another who produces public art. The friend told The National Pulse that over the last year or two, Azzarello “lost his mind.”