The man who set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US President Donald Trump was on trial in New York on Friday has died.

The confirmation was given by New York authorities early on Saturday, who did not specify the time of death - stating only that the death had been confirmed by the hospital where the man was taken, and where he arrived alive, but in critical condition.

The man was engulfed in flames for about three minutes, and only one minute passed between the moment he set himself on fire and the police arrived. 

According to a witness who spoke to NBC News, "someone was heard shouting" before the act. "I saw him pour gasoline on his face, very deliberately," explained Ed Quinn, a journalist who was at the scene.

"The gasoline soaked his shirt," he explained, adding that people at the scene were screaming and begging him not to set himself on fire.

US publications report that, after throwing some pamphlets into the air, Azzarello pulled a can from a backpack and doused himself with what authorities believe was an alcohol-based flammable liquid. It was at that moment that police officers and civilians rushed to the area, trying to put out the flames with coats and fire extinguishers, described New York Police Department Chief Jeff Maddrey. Four officers suffered minor injuries due to exposure to the fire.

Who was this man? And what were his motivations?

The man who set himself on fire has been identified as Maxwell Azzarello, 37. Originally from St. Augustine, in the US state of Florida, the man is said to have arrived in New York at the beginning of the week without his family's knowledge -  and to have committed an "extreme act of protest", after throwing pamphlets with "conspiracy theories".

On Friday, the self-proclaimed "investigator" published a document called: "I Set Myself on Fire in Front of Trump Tower" on the Substack platform, where he explained his motivations.

"This extreme act of protest is to bring attention to an urgent and important discovery: We are victims of a totalitarian coup, and our own government (along with many of its allies) is about to unleash an apocalyptic global fascist takeover," he wrote.

According to the authorities, the content of the pamphlets thrown was based precisely on "conspiracy theories [with] information about a Ponzi scheme", in which the man argued that "some of our local educational institutions are fronts for the mafia", reported NBC News.

Although Azarello did not violate "security protocols", New York Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh assured that the authorities will review the procedures, according to ABC 7.

"We don't believe he targeted any specific group. Right now, we're labelling the incident as [the work of] a conspiracy theorist of some type and we'll go from there, but the investigation will continue", added the New York Police Department's Chief of Detectives, Joseph Kenny.

And 'on the other side', what did Trump say?

Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement expressing "condolences to the traumatized witnesses" and thanking New York authorities and emergency services for their response to the incident, which "proves that the nation is in serious trouble".

"Not knowing the motivations behind this sick situation, it is hard to make any definitive comments, other than to say that we are grateful that, to our knowledge, no one else was injured other than the individual in question", she said.

It all happened at 6:37 pm (Lisbon time), after 12 people and six alternatives were selected to be on the jury for Donald Trump's trial, paving the way for the start of proceedings next week.

Read Also: He set himself on fire at the door of Trump's trial for "conspiracy". What is known (Portuguese version)