The man, who's in critical condition, was taken to a New York City hospital.
Emergency crews rushed away a person on a stretcher after a fire was extinguished outside the courthouse where jury selection for former President Donald Trump's trial is taking place. Witnesses say they saw a man pour liquid over his head and set himself on fire.
The New York City Fire Department said it responded to reports of an individual on fire and transported one patient in critical condition to New York Presbyterian-Cornell.
Multiple people, including a guest being interviewed by CNN, witnessed the incident at Collect Pond Park.
One witness described pamphlets that the person threw, apparently while making allegations about New York University.
"I heard this clattering, and it was those papers that he had flung up in the air," the witness said.
"That caught our attention and — caught my attention anyway....then he pulled out a can and he poured it over himself. And at that point, I thought, 'Oh,...this is gonna be awful.'"
"It happened so fast — what do you do," another witness said.
It wasn't clear whether the act was related to the former president's trial, where jury selection is being finalized.
This story was originally published by CBS News on Friday, April 19 at 2:25 p.m. ET.
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