A man has died after he set himself on fire outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic "hush-money" trial is taking place.
Warning: This story contains content which may be upsetting for some readers.
The man burned for several minutes in full view of television cameras that were set up outside the courthouse, where the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president is being held.
A witness on the scene said he first heard the man throwing pamphlets into the air before lighting himself on fire.
"At that point, I said, 'Oh shoot, what am I going to see?'" the witness told Reuters.
The witness, who declined to give his name, said the man burned for several minutes.
NBC News and other US media said early on Saturday that the man had died. NBC News quoted New York City police as saying the hospital where the man was taken had declared him dead.
Officials earlier said the man was in critical condition.
The New York Police Department said the man, who they identified as Max Azzarello of St. Augustine, Florida, did not appear to be targeting Mr Trump or others involved in the trial.
"Right now we are labelling him as sort of a conspiracy theorist, and we are going from there," Tarik Sheppard, a deputy commissioner with the police department, said at a news conference.
The incident came shortly after jury selection for the trial, clearing the way for prosecutors and defence lawyers to make opening statements next week in a case stemming from hush money paid to a porn star.
The 12 jurors and six alternates will consider evidence in a first-ever trial to determine whether a former US president is guilty of breaking the law.
The jury consists of seven men and five women, most employed in white-collar professions: two corporate lawyers, a software engineer, a speech therapist and an English teacher.
Most are not native New Yorkers, hailing from across the United States and countries like Ireland and Lebanon.
Mr Trump is accused of covering up a $US130,000 ($202,500) payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she says they had a decade earlier.
Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and denies any such encounter with Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
The downtown Manhattan courthouse, heavily guarded by police, drew a throng of protesters and onlookers on Monday, the trial's first day, though crowds have dwindled since then.
Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty in three other criminal cases as well, but this is the only one certain to go to trial ahead of the November 5 election, when the Republican politician aims to again take on Democratic President Joe Biden.
A conviction would not bar him from office.
