A CNN camera crew was filming live as a man set himself on fire outside former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial on Friday afternoon, prompting anchor Laura Coates to frantically pivot and react to the horrifying sight in real time.
“We have a man who has set fire to himself, our cameras are turning right now, a man has now lit himself on fire outside of the courthouse,” she said, pressing a finger to her earpiece as the cameras shifted focus to the man, who was seen engulfed in flames less than 50 feet away.
The incident happened shortly after a full jury panel had been selected in Trump’s historic hush money trial.
Coates did her best to describe her reaction to the shocking display, rattling off her observations stream-of-consciousness style.
“There is chaos that is happening. People are wondering right now if people are in danger. I’m looking right now across the courtyard, there is a man racing to his aid, there are coats coming off to try to put out the fire. We have members of security details, NYPD is rushing to the scene, a fire extinguisher is right now present,” Coates said as the scene unfolded.
“We can smell the air, I can smell the burning of some sort of flesh, of some sort of agent to put out that fire. I see a person whose body appears to be on the ground surrounded by officers. The fire is still burning.”
