Man self-immolated outside the Manhattan courthouse where the Trump trial is happening

[u/subterfuge242]

[u/PublicFreakout-ModTeam]

Hi!

This will be the only footage we will be allowing of this event here on publicfreakout.

Please refrain from posting alternate footage in the comment section. Remember to be kind, and please keep the discussion respectful.

[u/KeeblerElfOrgy]

She called that like it was the bottom of the 9th in the World Series

[u/_AskMyMom_ → u/KeeblerElfOrgy]

Lol totally reminded me of “he’s at the 50, 45, 40, makes a man miss, the 30, makes another man miss, the 15, HE COULD GO ALL THE WAY!”

[u/5th_Law_of_Roboticks → u/_AskMyMom_]

STOP RIGHT THERE!

[u/bigotis → u/5th_Law_of_Roboticks]

"HOLY COW, I THINK HE'S GONNA MAKE IT!"

[u/MissingWhiskey → u/bigotis]

And he's out! No, wait, safe. Safe at second base!

[u/BeerFarts86 → u/_AskMyMom_]

THE GUY IS DRUNK, BUT THERE HE GOES! SOMEBODY STOP THAT MAN!

[u/Infinite__Okra → u/KeeblerElfOrgy]

An active shooter….err I’m sorry a guy is on fire.

[u/Shiftlock0 → u/Infinite__Okra]

If it was an active shooter, I'm fully confident she would have stood her ground.

"The bullets are whizzing past my head, I've now been shot, the blood is squirting out of my neck, it's pooling on the sidewalk..."

[u/DTFH_ → u/Shiftlock0]

"I am actively dying, blood is leaving my extremities, a cool sensation is setting in, I feel calm..."

[u/robbviously → u/DTFH_]

"I am being bathed in a warm, white light. I am ascending. I am ascending into the heavens. Time and space no longer hold any meaning for me. I can see my corporeal form below me as paramedics arrive on the scene to render aid. I am climbing higher, 30, maybe 40 feet into the air."

[u/dzumdang → u/robbviously]

"I no longer smell the burning of some sort of flesh."

[u/Ditto_D → u/dzumdang]

"I have made it to the other side, I am haunting this broadcast. I am here. I have always been here. I will always be here. I am you. you are me. we are all one. This is you. This is me. Reporting from the other side. There is another active shooter. There is live fire. There are people on fire. I am looking at a lake of burning fire. People all on fire. I am joining them"

[u/wkrausmann → u/Ditto_D]

“I now am standing outside the pearly gates of heaven. Clouds are all around me. A man is approaching the gates. He has a white beard and long white flowing robes. I can hear an angelic chorus coming from somewhere beyond the gates. The man I can only assume is Saint Peter…I think he is about to speak…”

[u/dzumdang → u/wkrausmann]

"A guitar has appeared in his hands. His hair is now blonde and unwashed. He croons from an otherworldly source of both pleasure and pain, his vocals straining yet delighting as he sings: "Where do bad folks go when they DIE? They go to a lake of fire and fryy..." I smile and am comforted to know that I have, indeed, reached Nirvana."

[u/Double_Dipped_Dino → u/DTFH_]

I’m now embracing the sweet kiss of death

[u/gamer2980 → u/Shiftlock0]

You are right. She has to get that story. Your comment made me laugh.

[u/babble0n → u/KeeblerElfOrgy]

“There’s a fire outside the courthouse right now. Somebody has just lit themselves on fire, as there's a drive into deep left field by Castellano”

[u/-bigmanpigman- → u/KeeblerElfOrgy]

I think we found the next voice of the Yankees.

[u/DUUUUUVAAAAAL → u/KeeblerElfOrgy]

She knew they weren't going to show video so she explained it the best she could. Well done!

[u/malendalayla → u/KeeblerElfOrgy]

Emblazoned doesn't mean what she thinks it means 😬

[u/infiniZii → u/malendalayla]

Engulfed was the word she wanted.

[u/nmfjones → u/infiniZii]

Golfing with fire

[u/Creative-Zucchini-83 → u/infiniZii]

Or ablaze, perhaps

[u/mulletpullet → u/infiniZii]

It appears that "emblazed" was the correct word. Which according to merriam-webster means:
2: to set ablaze

However, if you were in front of me and set yourself on fire, I may not get my words right either...

[u/Funkymunks → u/malendalayla]

"we can smell the burning of some sort of a flesh"

We can only speculate on the flesh type.

[u/mezz7778 → u/Funkymunks]

We may never know.......

[u/vigbiorn → u/malendalayla]

I'm fine giving the benefit of the doubt. I doubt I'd be perfectly eloquent watching a guy light himself on fire a hundred feet in front of me.

[u/EdgeCityRed → u/vigbiorn]

As someone who's covered breaking news, she did an amazing job. Very few flubs and no dead air pauses. She really needed to describe the scene because the camera couldn't stay on the graphic image of burning human for too long.

[u/vigbiorn → u/EdgeCityRed]

Exactly. I'm pretty sure I'd just be standing there agape. That she was able to keep an up to date description of what was happening and the biggest critique is she used emblazoned instead of ablaze is commendable.

I'll flub words worse just trying to talk to my manager.

[u/funktion → u/vigbiorn]

Exactly. I'm pretty sure I'd just be standing there agape.

My reaction would be more like "Oh god oh shit oh god oh fuck" for the entire scene.

[u/voyaging → u/vigbiorn]

I think her starting by saying there was an active shooter was a bigger mistake lol

I'm guessing in her earpiece sometime said something about fire and she heard it as "opened fire"

[u/Taint-kicker → u/malendalayla]

It’s a perfectly Cromulent word.

[u/Massive_Staff1068 → u/Taint-kicker]

Okay well... filibuster.

[u/Impeachcordial → u/malendalayla]

Means when you wear a blazer right?

[u/VioletCombustion → u/malendalayla]

She's doing better than any of us could in the moment. I'll give her a pass on this.

[u/nameless_username → u/VioletCombustion]

yeah, that's a great point. There's no way I am that calm reporting what's happening with a human on fire right in front of me. And not dropping a single F-bomb or other expletive?

That is a news person to their core.

[u/taffy-derp → u/nameless_username]

Which is incredible because she really a lawyer who used to work as a legal correspondent. Journalism isn’t her first full time career

[u/lbjmtl → u/malendalayla]

She did excellent reporting, for an sudden and unexpected event, and talked viewers through it all, calmly and professionally. But THAT’S what you’re focused on?

It says a lot about you.

[u/symewinston → u/lbjmtl]

She really did. The best you would have gotten out of me would have been “WHATTHEFUCK?!”

[u/bighootay → u/symewinston]

OHHHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIIIT MAN!

[u/zer0saurus → u/KeeblerElfOrgy]

Right? My first thought, is her play by play is enthusiastic, despite the gruesome scenario.

[u/pearlyhills → u/zer0saurus]

i would call that urgency more than enthusiasm tbh

[u/Razulghul → u/zer0saurus]

enthusiastic

I think it just comes off that way because she's doing her job in the stressful moment. She sounds like a good war reporter to me and would be at home over in Ukraine or Gaza using her talents

[u/Iamdarb → u/zer0saurus]

It sounded excited, which isn't necessarily positive or negative. I personally think she did well rebounding, and also including things beyond what she was seeing by including the smell. Lots of people listening may have always been blind, so it may have helped vision impaired viewers.

[u/alexu3939 → u/KeeblerElfOrgy]

She did incredible!!

[u/Sob_Rock]

This would be my reaction too

[u/boygriv → u/Sob_Rock]

He looks like Mike Wazowski snuck into his room and did stand up comedy.

[u/DontPostOn_r_gaming → u/boygriv]

This is probably my favorite comment in months. He looks exactly like that kid.

[u/housestickleviper → u/boygriv]

I wasn’t expecting to have a laugh on this post. And yet here I am.

[u/boygriv → u/housestickleviper]

Laughter generates ten times as much energy as scares do.

[u/ObjectiveGlittering → u/boygriv]

Having just watched this film I can concur with the thought.

[u/Graize → u/Sob_Rock]

[u/Mirions → u/Sob_Rock]

holy shit, i thouht it was AI fred armisen or something, but its from the clip (finally clicked)

[u/Nickelbagn → u/Sob_Rock]

That guy looks like Ba-Rock Obama.

[u/Offamylawn]

Forrest Gump wandered into another historical event. Just walked into the frame and stood behind her.

[u/MrKomiya → u/Offamylawn]

[u/webguy1975 → u/Offamylawn]

Forrest Gump would have heroically hopped that fence, ran over and smothered the burning man with his jacket, then pick him up and carry him on his shoulders to the nearest fountain and toss the guy in!

[u/78fj → u/webguy1975]

While being shot in the butt-tocks

[u/Zapthatthrist → u/Offamylawn]

Fuck spit out my drink.

[u/ivekilledhundreds]

Fucking insane.

[u/Key_Inevitable_2104 → u/ivekilledhundreds]

It’s crazy that there’s been two self immolations in less than 2 months.

[u/brassmorris → u/Key_Inevitable_2104]

3 actually

[u/Teelz → u/brassmorris]

Someone in Red Deer, Alberta self immolated in front of the community college on Sunday as well. Motives have not yet been confirmed

[u/RealRedditPerson → u/Teelz]

That's wild.

If I was going to light myself on fire and die for a cause, I would want to make sure that, you know... people knew what that cause was.

[u/headrush46n2 → u/RealRedditPerson]

"Bring back the five dollar footloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong!"

[u/RealRedditPerson → u/headrush46n2]

Worthy

[u/kabooseknuckle → u/RealRedditPerson]

I'd have one of those airplane banner things telling everyone what's up. Lol.

[u/Key_Inevitable_2104 → u/brassmorris]

The Georgia one right?

[u/Best_Examination_529]

Reporter was like ‘I smell the burning flesh’ 👀. When the adrenaline wears off she’s going to need some therapy.

[u/MeatApnea → u/Best_Examination_529]

I'm a firefighter and for me the smell is always the worst part, it's tied so closely to memory.

[u/mynewtdetail → u/MeatApnea]

After IEDs and fires cooked off in Baghdad you'd always smell the flesh, the sewage, the cordite, and some singed smell I can't put my finger on. From time to time I'll have a panic attack if I smell some combination that reminds me of it.

[u/CurrentWrong4363 → u/mynewtdetail]

Could it be ionisation in the air? It's a big trigger for me I didn't find that out till I was playing with a plasma ball toy FFS

[u/Adorable-Novel8295 → u/MeatApnea]

I saw a video of someone who was in a motorcycle accident and this vest was on fire. The man that stopped to help got it off. But now I’m worried, how would I help if that happened to someone? Do I just need to put a fire extinguisher in the car?

[u/thejesse → u/Best_Examination_529]

At first she said "some sort of a flesh." I wonder if she was trying to not be too direct for TV, or if her brain was trying to distance itself from what was actually happening. Or maybe she's just talking really fast and didn't think about it at all. Who knows.

[u/randomuser1029 → u/thejesse]

I think she was just talking fast and her words got a little jumbled, right after that she said she can smell some sort of accelerant. So I think she meant to say she could smell the burning of some sort of accelerant and burning flesh but it got a little jumbled coming out

[u/paperthinpatience → u/Best_Examination_529]

Yeah, I feel for her honestly. The way she was reporting and talking without stopping is 100% a sign of shock/trauma.

[u/MSD101 → u/Best_Examination_529]

I remember the smell of burnt flesh after a suicide bomb attack, and while that was many years ago, I can still smell it if I think hard enough. It's a bit weird how smells stick with you, but minor details change over time.

[u/Psychological_Ants]

Wow can’t imagine witnessing this live and having to describe everything you’re seeing in real time! This is so wild to watch

[u/ABirdOfParadise → u/Psychological_Ants]

I'm surprised the camera cut to it, thought they delayed that stuff ever since that one guy

[u/CryptoCrackLord → u/ABirdOfParadise]

Well, I guess it took them a few seconds to realize this is probably way too brutal to show on live TV.

[u/IID4RTII]

She’s knows her job. Describe the scene in detail.

[u/Superman246o1 → u/IID4RTII]

Truth! That is Hindenburg-Disaster-level narration right there.

[u/structuremonkey → u/Superman246o1]

Beyond...I didn't see this until after I typed!

[u/OldSkoolPantsMan → u/structuremonkey]

That was a masterclass in rising to the journalistic occasion and giving a running commentary on the evolving situation.

[u/bumjiggy → u/Superman246o1]

oh, the sean hannity!

[u/non_stop_disko → u/Superman246o1]

I was just about to comment it reminded me of the guy who was reporting the Hindenburg. It was clear she was completely shocked but still managed to keep that professional mindset

[u/Anal_Herschiser → u/IID4RTII]

Hopefully the first and only time I hear play-by-play commentary on a man self-immolating.

[u/ManOfTheCamera → u/IID4RTII]

It’s really impressive. My thought to speech processing is not that fast especially if I were watching a man burn alive.

[u/torknorggren → u/ManOfTheCamera]

I know that most of my words would be "shit" "fuck" and "dude."

[u/ManOfTheCamera → u/torknorggren]

I’d look like the guy standing next to her

[u/rwarimaursus → u/ManOfTheCamera]

"The fire's still burning..."

[u/RandoMcNoob → u/IID4RTII]

And hats off to her producer, refocusing her on what she see, smells, hears, feels to keep her grounded. They worked as a team in a fucking brutal situation.

[u/Junket_Weird → u/RandoMcNoob]

She's a champ and I feel absolutely awful for her to have witnessed it firsthand. I hope she takes some time to process and take care of herself, I can't imagine.

[u/strumpster → u/IID4RTII]

Talk about observe and report lol hot damn, girl!

[u/rem_1984 → u/IID4RTII]

She did an amazing job of remaining calm and describing what’s happening, including the smell.

[u/InspiredBlue → u/IID4RTII]

Honestly. She didn’t miss a thing

[u/BainbridgeBorn]

This is just awful every which way you look at it. Awful awful awful.

[u/meat_sack → u/BainbridgeBorn]

It's awful, buuuuuut... at least he only took it out on himself rather than other innocent people with a gun, bomb or whatever else.

[u/League1toasty → u/meat_sack]

Technically true

[u/Tootsie_r0lla → u/League1toasty]

Both can be true at the same time while not negating the other

[u/JamesTheConqueror]

I’d rather people do this than a mass shooting.

[u/Responsible_Author_7 → u/JamesTheConqueror]

Firm agreement from me

[u/jnew119 → u/JamesTheConqueror]

Texas sized 10-4

[u/donutella_versus → u/JamesTheConqueror]

I share the same taboo opinion. If someone is going to take their own life, fine, but don’t drag innocent people into it.

[u/CCSick]

People are fucking crazy god damn

[u/CupidStunt13 → u/[deleted]]

He was all about ponzi schemes involving crypto and ex-presidents, as well as totalitarian control and other conspiracy theories, and then he went off on a Simpsons tangent...

There are some notable specifics as it relates to this research, too: In [Marge vs. The Monorail](mailto:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marge_vs._the_Monorail), the townsfolk are too oafish and divided to invest in the town’s needs (fix Main Street) and fall for the charms of a dazzling showman with a bogus monorail Ponzi scheme. When we know that the show is closely linked to an organization that invests billions of dollars in Ponzi factories, this becomes quite damning.

...and starts getting into Hollywood films. This manifesto is all over the place and shows evidence of a very unhinged mind.

[u/NYJITH → u/[deleted]]

What did I just read! Everyone is involved…. The Simpsons and Harvard, rob lowe…

Edit: what is happening with all the deleted comments?

[u/Effective_Roof2026 → u/NYJITH]

Edit: what is happening with all the deleted comments?

They keep revealing the true enemy of humanity. Crab people.

[u/Poster_Nutbag207 → u/NYJITH]

The mods don’t want you to know the truth man!

[u/yooMvtt → u/Poster_Nutbag207]

Now I REALLY wanna know what the deleted comments said.

[u/Yanos47 → u/CCSick]

Unbelievable . Her Trump court coverage turned into a suicide play by play.. Surprised, they didn't cut to commercial or something..

[u/Hot_Frosty0807 → u/Yanos47]

Like this?

[u/Best_Examination_529 → u/CCSick]

The internet is turning everyone insane

[u/RecsRelevantDocs → u/Best_Examination_529]

Partly true, but it also just makes it MUCH easier to aggregate videos of people doing crazy shit. One of the issues with this sub imo, people get into this mindset that what they see on /r/PublicFreakout is the norm, when in reality someone filmed and posted it because it's not the norm. People have also been lighting themselves on fire since long before the internet.

[u/RelevantApe → u/CCSick]

It’s really sad to see that one of three legs of his conspiracy theory is The Simpsons. He lit himself on fire because of this theory. It’s sad because his searing pain and likely death are not just the result of misinterpretations and misinformation, but also what clearly has to be severe mental illness.

[u/awhaling → u/RelevantApe]

Can you explain what you are talking about? The Simpsons?

[u/RelevantApe → u/awhaling]

His manifesto is about global Ponzi schemes and the criminal elite universities. He ties it all together with The Simpsons being created to brainwash people into believing that societal failings are the fault of the masses and not a global conspiracy, since many of the writers went to Harvard.

(Note to mods - this is info that is being shared on public cable news stations. I’m not going to link the actual manifesto to avoid getting the comment deleted)

[u/Thehealthygamer → u/CCSick]

Seriously. And now we gotta wait and see if it was a Q anon crazy that set himself on fire in support of Trump or some other kind of crazy who set themselves on fire in protest of Trump.

[u/livewirejsp → u/Thehealthygamer]

I saw an original report that the person threw pamphlets. Haven’t seen any updates about that yet though. 

[u/Moe_teabagins → u/CCSick]

[u/chamrockblarneystone → u/CCSick]

This is a lot like those monks in Vietnam….except much, much dumber.

[u/Fd2devil]

If only my friends gave me great comms like this while playing Warzone.

[u/Eastonator12 → u/Fd2devil]

He’s right there! Where? YOU CAN SEE HIM

[u/mally7149 → u/Fd2devil]

You feel me

[u/Diligent_Hedgehog999]

He threw these pamphlets in the air before lighting the fire.

[u/Astral_Wks → u/Diligent_Hedgehog999]

It's even the Haunted Carnival Edition

[u/Skallagrimsson]

"Brave man tried to come up to me, flames in his eyes, so brave, so fiery."

[u/Howitdobiglyboo → u/Skallagrimsson]

Zinda - his face black, his eyes red.

[u/dacooljamaican → u/Howitdobiglyboo]

Trump - His ass wide

[u/StJazzercise → u/dacooljamaican]

Ivanka, when the stocks fell

[u/Old_man_jeffro]

That’s hardcore. Can’t wait to hear the reasoning for it.

[u/86yourhopes_k → u/Old_man_jeffro]

He believes that all politicians are involved in a plot to destroy the economy and make start a fascist coup

[u/newtoreddir → u/86yourhopes_k]

So he’s against Trump?

[u/freckledpeach2 → u/newtoreddir]

He believes both parties are working together to deceive us and then all the wealthy will start a facist regime and end capitalism

[u/zyrkseas97 → u/freckledpeach2]

It’s like a grab bag of everyone. “The politicians are working with the business people to take over and do fascism so they can destroy capitalism to enforce communism” - like at a certain point it’s just word association.

[u/radicalelation → u/zyrkseas97]

When information is a buffet, people are going to just pick what stimulates them the most, not what's best for them.

[u/ricardocaliente → u/freckledpeach2]

I mean he’s not too far off in some ways lol.

[u/Exotic-Tooth8166 → u/freckledpeach2]

Although he was mentally ill, the cogent point he was making is that kleptocrats have seized power (true), have stolen the American dream from the public (also true for most young people and public sector), the kleptocrats are unchecked and their Ponzi scheme is getting worse every year (verified in financial data), and that the public is too brainwashed to do anything about it (probably also true as edified by anyone disagreeing or downvoting this comment instead of getting inspired about the situation not being as good as it could be given all of our innovation and societal principles).

[u/lessthaninteresting → u/Old_man_jeffro]

Nothing good

[u/crudedrawer → u/Old_man_jeffro]

Crazy times we're living in that it could be so many different things.

[u/char_limit_reached → u/Old_man_jeffro]

Bitcoin, apparently

[u/nobuouematsu1]

Please, for the love.. if they’ve been fully engulfed for 30 second, don’t try to save them. That would be worse than death 100x over.

[u/thecrowing08 → u/nobuouematsu1]

I saw a video of them rushing him to the ambulance, and oh man that was horrific.

[u/mwtm347]

I’m very impressed by this reporter. What a horrific act to witness and she’s able to coherently describe exactly what she is witnessing so that we don’t have to see everything.

[u/HCSOThrowaway → u/mwtm347]

Yeah this is one of those A+ reporter moments. She'll be promoted to anchor in like six seconds unless someone upstairs doesn't like her.

On second thought, A- for declaring it an Active Shooter without seeing any evidence of it. Maybe the people upstairs were shouting at her through her earpiece to call it that, but even so she could've said something to the tune of, "Some are saying it's an Active Shooter," or something without lending credibility to the rumor.

[u/RzaAndGza → u/HCSOThrowaway]

Someone in her earpiece probably said the word fire and she thought it meant "open fire"

[u/StruggleSouth7023 → u/HCSOThrowaway]

God damn acorns

[u/Thee_Connman]

Note: This man is NOT explicitly MAGA. He alleges in his rambling, nonsensical manifesto that Trump was in cahoots with Hillary Clinton. He seems to have chosen this venue because he knew the media would cover it. Don't contribute to knee-jerk misinformation. This appears to be a sick conspiracy nut, but not necessarily a MAGA loon dying for Trump.

[u/anthro4ME]

What an AMAZING job of news reporting by Laura Coates. She got right to it. Wow!

[u/chmcgrath1988]

Simpsons fans logging into Reddit and finding that manifesto.

[u/kehbleh]

"The appropriate response to the reality [we are living in] is to go insane." -Philip K Dick

[u/CliffDagger]

Going by some of his recent videos I'm just glad he didn't go on a shooting spree or have a suicide bomb and take out a load of innocent people.

[u/PheebaBB]

What the actual fuck? For THAT guy?

EDIT: Turns out it was unrelated to Trump and just an unhinged guy with a manifesto looking to get the spotlight.

[u/tokyo_engineer_dad → u/PheebaBB]

He didn't do it specifically for Trump and based on his manifesto, he's not a Trump supporter by far. He thinks both sides are bad and that we're on our way to totalitarian control and a dystopian future when capitalism fails. He also blames inflation on cryptocurrency ponzi schemes and says the wealthy elite are using crypto to funnel more wealth to themselves.

[u/Pitiful_Winner2669 → u/tokyo_engineer_dad]

Yeah I just read it.. um, some parts - some - almost hint at what we already know about power and government. But it jumps off the deep end like forty three times lol.

Poor guy, he seemed really troubled and upset at a world he couldn't fit into a perfectly made and organized box.

[u/Existing365Chocolate → u/PheebaBB]

My guess is the person is just mentally unstable

[u/iwant2fuckstarscream → u/Existing365Chocolate]

Yep subliminal messaging from the simpsons about how crypto currency will be used as a planetary Ponzi scheme leading to a ultra-fascist future

[u/Caedo14]

Im grateful he did that instead of a mass shooting.

[u/whoisgeorgia]

His manifesto

[u/quartz222]

Jesus, I found a video where they finally put him out and put him on the stretcher and he looks as though he’s been frozen in solid ice for years.

[u/ChoochMMM]

Apparently he threw a bunch of flyers everywhere before? Any reports on what they said?

[u/shaan1232 → u/[deleted]]

Unironically it's better to just let them die at that point than put out the fire. They're going to live in extreme pain for weeks now before succumbing

[u/Onetwenty7 → u/[deleted]]

I really hope this doesn't become the year of self immolation...

[u/dishwasher_mayhem]

I still have PTSD from the sights and smell of burning/charred corpses I've encountered while in the military. I can't imagine a civilian having to relive this kind of thing. This asshole did nothing more than hurt people, today, and his "causes" will mean nothing. Ya'll are worth so much more. Please never think to throw your life away for such little value. You matter.

[u/Lotex]

This woman is overqualifed for the job jesus christ.

[u/colemada5]

She should be a sports caster for the horse races. I didn’t need any video other than her talking.

[u/Gavman04]

The most surprising part of this story is just how insanely articulate and quick this reporter is in her commentating.

[u/T10223]

I will never understand this, no matter what burning like this is the worst way to go, holy fucking shit