The New York courthouse which has played host to Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial for the past two months was dramatically evacuated on Wednesday after a man started a fire.
Just hours after testimony wrapped up in the former president’s case at the New York State Supreme Court, a man set a stack of papers on fire inside the building, according to officials.
Firefighters responded to reports of a “suspicious odour” at the courthouse at around 4pm on Wednesday to find the fire already extinguished.
Al Baker, a court spokesperson, told The Independent that – after starting the small fire – the man had used a fire extinguisher on the fourth floor, releasing fumes into the air.
Three floors of the building, located at 60 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan, were evacuated amid the chaos.
The FNDY said that 17 people suffered minor injuries as a result of the fire, including two people – a court officer and a sergeant – who were hospitalised. They have since been released.
The injuries were largely due to the chemicals released by the fire extinguisher.
17 people are reported to have suffered minor injuries— (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
The man who set fire to the documents was arrested at the scene, according to the court spokesperson. There is no information immediately available about the man’s identity or charges.
However, he is believed to be a litigant and not an employee of the court.
Attorney Marcy Katz was in court on the third floor when the fire started.
She told ABC News that she suddenly heard screaming and smelled smoke before a court officer rushed in and told everyone to get out of the building.
The fire started just hours after the conclusion of testimony in Mr Trump’s ongoing $250m civil fraud trial, which had been held on the court’s third floor.
Mr Trump was not in the building on Wednesday, but the judge who presides over his case, Judge Arthur Engoron, was among those evacuated.
The trial is set to come to a conclusion in January when Judge Engoron will determine what penalties the former president should face for falsely inflating the net worth of the Trump Organization.
