Trump protestor Max Azzarello, 37, told friends he planned to be a martyr just days before burning himself to death outside NYC hush money trial

The man who set himself on fire outside the Manhattan courthouse where Trump’s hush money trial is being heard told friends of his intention to be a “martyr” just days before committing his fatal act of protest.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, friend and neighbor Bob Warren, 62, who lived next door to Max Azzarello, 37, in St Augustine, Florida, revealed: ‘It was just a few days before he went to New York, we were sitting around back there, drinking beer and he was playing guitar, and we were talking.

“He had some extreme views, some extreme ideology, and he just said, ‘I guess I’m just going to have to be a martyr.’

Tragically, Warren admitted, no one present to hear Azzarello’s threat took him seriously, instead simply laughing it off as the ramblings of a man they knew as “generally calm and a great guy,” but who in recent months have become increasingly obsessed with conspiracy theories.

Warren said, “He only moved into the apartment next door about three weeks ago, but he’d been hanging out for six or seven months before that.

‘He was a great guy. We had a chat. I am a Trump supporter. He thought everyone was involved in a conspiracy, so we would stay away from some topics. We got along well.’

According to Warren, Azzarello had seen the move as a positive change as his father, Richard, 71, lived locally but had been living in a terraced house.

Warren described himself as “completely shocked” when he heard his friend had followed through on his threat.

He said: ‘I keep thinking he probably changed his mind four or five seconds after he lit himself.’

Azzarello took a stack of pamphlets from his backpack and threw them in the air before dousing himself with fuel and accelerant at 1:39 p.m. Friday afternoon.

He died from his injuries that evening shortly before 11 p.m.

Today, his white Toyota 4Runner truck sits where he left it outside his apartment building. “Trump is with Hillary, and they’re about to let the fascists rip us off,” is written in permanent marker on the back.

The address of the website where he posted his intention to self-soothe and his belief that cryptocurrency is a major Ponzi scheme perpetrated against the American people is written under the license.

According to a neighbor, the sign under the rear window with the words “This is a revolution” was a recent addition.

In the hours since the horrific incident, friends and former schoolmates have come forward to paint a picture of an extremely intelligent but increasingly troubled young man for whom, it seems, the death of his mother, Libby, two years ago may have been the catalyst. before its catastrophic unraveling.

Yesterday, DailyMail.com revealed that Azzarello had only just completed a 180-day probationary period for a series of incidents involving disorderly conduct and destruction of property, frightening the public with his erratic and ‘incoherent’ behavior.

Three criminal complaints obtained from this publication show that all incidents took place in August last year.

In one instance, Azzarello, who is listed on charging documents as unemployed, threw a glass of wine at a framed and autographed photo of President Bill Clinton on display in the lobby of the Casa Monica Hotel in his hometown of Saint Augustine, Florida.

The complaint notes that the incident occurred on the evening of August 19, 2023, and that Azzarello had just finished eating at the hotel’s restaurant when he launched the glass at the picture, breaking and damaging the glass on the framed photo with wine .

Just two days later, on August 21, Azzarello was back at the Case Monica Hotel where he was reported. “He was standing outside, taking off his clothes and yelling at customers.”

When police arrived, they noted that he was “wearing nothing but his underwear while standing on the sidewalk.” [sic] a loudspeaker that blasts music and shouts.’

The hotel manager told officers that several customers were “fearful for their safety” and could not enter or leave for fear of Azzarello.

On August 24, he was arrested again for defacing property and searching a woman’s belongings in the bed of her truck.

According to the police report, he was seen screaming in someone’s yard after he “misinterpreted” an exterminator’s sign warning people to keep their children and pets away from a lawn that had just been treated, and became convinced that the pest control company ‘was there to exterminate children’. and dogs.’

To gain further insight into his troubled state of mind, Azzarello posted an update to his Facebook page earlier that same month, telling his followers that he had just spent three days in a psychiatric ward.

He claimed that four officers entered his apartment after he tipped a Starbucks barista $200 and wrote “Go F*** Yourself” on the receipt.

He wrote: ‘I was handcuffed, pushed and taken to a psychiatric ward. I only found out why I was there after I was discharged.’