Viewer warning: the above video contains graphic footage.

A man has lit himself on fire outside the Manhattan courthouse where former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place.

CNN’s Laura Coates interrupted the live report on the trial to announce that someone had lit themselves on fire and that first responders were rushing to put out the fire. Hearing something in her earpiece, Coates had a look of shock as she initially said there was an “active shooter” before quickly correcting herself to say “we have a man who has literally set fire to himself, outside the courthouse just now.”

Coates described the man as “fully emblazoned” and seeing multiple fires breaking out on the man and around him, in a scene of “chaos.”

“There is a man racing to aid! There is coats coming off, trying to put out the fire, we have members of security details, NYPD is rushing to the scene,” said Coates. She added that people were “climbing over the barricades” that had been put up outside the courthouse to help the man, as she could smell the “burning flesh” and “some sort of accelerant” as well as the fire extinguisher being used to attempt to put out the flames.

It took multiple attempts to put out the flames, according to Coates, and the man was engulfed “in flames for over a minute.” Security precautions due to the presence of a former president inside the courtroom made getting an ambulance to the scene difficult, but one arrived and the man was put on a stretcher.

Additional reporting from CNN described how the incident began:

The man walked into the park across the street from the courthouse, throwing flyers into the air, a senior law enforcement official told CNN. He then pulled something out of a backpack — it was not immediately what the item was — and lit himself on fire, the official said.

Investigators are collecting the flyers the man threw into the air, a senior law enforcement official told CNN. CNN reporters on the scene observed one of the flyers, which said “NYU is a mob front” and “had various allegations of wrongdoings against the school.”

NYPD has said that there will be a briefing on the incident within the hour.

The man does appear to still be alive, according to the latest reporting. Police have confirmed that he lit himself on fire.

This is a breaking story and has been updated with additional content.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

The post BREAKING: Man Lights Himself on Fire Outside Trump Courthouse first appeared on Mediaite.

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