The Guy Who Self-Immolated At Trump’s Courthouse Was A Substacker
We need to talk about how Substack just lit up a serious problem.
If you have been watching the news, you have already seen the reports. A man by the name of Max Azzarello doused himself in accelerant and lit himself on fire in front of the New York City courthouse where Donald Trump’s case is being heard.
Azzarello had to do a lot to actually make this happen. He’s not local to the tri-state area. He was a Florida local who drove all the way up to New York to kill himself.
Onlookers watched in horror as he tossed out pamphlets, doused himself in chemicals, and lit a match. He died shortly after his bizarre, suicidal protest.
The pamphlets he passed out before his self-immolation caught media attention.
According to media sources, the pamphlets he passed around were conspiracy theory-themed. Some said “NYU is a mob front” and talked about themes associated with Q-Anon.
Azzarello is also noted for trying to sue Mark Zuckerberg and a slew of other celebrities for alleged fraud. He failed to show up in court according to The Daily Beast.
However, what caught *my* eye was his Substack account.
That’s right. Azzarello was a Substacker. He was a content creator, just like me and so many of my friends. Much like myself, it’s clear that he struggled with mental illness.
The difference is that his work involved a suicide note manifesto on Substack that remains up at the time of this writing. I decided to take a screenshot lest Substack takes it down now that this will be lit up by media outlets.
Azzarello truly saw himself as a revolutionary and as an investigative journalist. I have no doubt about that. However, what he did was the most extreme cry for help I could imagine.
This man needed to get psychiatric help. And there was a paper trail showing that he needed help. He needed help desperately.
Substack and social media are turning a blind eye to conspiracy theory-based mental illness.
Social media exacerbates mental illness. It’s common knowledge. Most long-form writing platforms (Vocal, Medium) are a little better about this than something along the lines of X.
Substack, unfortunately, is a little worse.
It wasn’t too long ago that Substack had to deal with a major PR gaffe when users began to notice an uptick in right-wing Nazi writers. The platform claimed they’d deplatform them, but even today, Nazi publications are making bank off Substack subscriptions.
The “moderation battle” on Substack is still ongoing. To date, it doesn’t seem to matter how much writers ask the platform to step in. Substack won’t change its policy. It’s genuinely poisoning the community.
A man is dead now, and it proves a serious point that had to be made.
Azzarello’s Substack was one that involved tons of conspiracy theories, but it also involved another thing most other ‘stacks don’t: a suicide note. His Substack was blunt about what he intended to do.
His last post was titled “I have set myself on fire outside the Trump Trial.”
I don’t think it can get any more blunt than that. Truth be told, his entire Substack account was filled to the brim with talk about doomsday, economic collapse, and World War III.
This dude was not just nihilistic. He was straight-up blackpilled. While he called his suicide an extreme act of “protest,” the truth is that his actions came off as a final stand of a man who genuinely thought things were not going to get better.
Words matter. Words matter a lot to the law.
Maybe it’s just me, but if I was a relative of his, I’d start wondering why social media platforms didn’t ban him. Perhaps he would have stayed alive if he didn’t have that echo chamber around him.
Moreover, there’s a certain level of liability platforms have when it comes to the content they produce and allow on their sites. I’m not a lawyer, but I feel like spreading hate that leads to murder or suicide could potentially put them in hot water.
I have a lot of questions for the executives of Substack and Azzarello’s social media platforms of choice.
Substack is really struggling with its policies and image right now. Looking at Azzarello’s account, I noticed that his “Ponzi Papers” Substack started April 16, 2023. This was a longstanding trend.
I have so many questions for the people behind the moderation policies of Substack:
Now that one of your users self-immolated and used your platform as a manifesto, do you see the damage a “laissez-faire” approach is doing to your community?
How many people have to get killed via stochastic terrorism to get you to change your policies?
Don’t you think it’s about time you consider banning people who post conspiracy theories on your site? Even if it’s only due to the bad press it’s getting you?
Why is Azzarello’s content still up?
Do you understand that turning a blind eye to conspiracy theories is contributing to a public mental health crisis?
I honestly think there needs to be a mental health clause on platforms.
Look, I’ve struggled with mental health. Severely. I know that when I’m not well, my judgment goes out the window. There are moments when I realize (often later on) that I need safeguards against myself.
Azzarello’s loved ones noted that his social media became more and more unhinged in the years leading up to his suicide. I feel like something should have been done here, perhaps by the platforms or his loved ones.
Telling people to “touch grass” won’t do shit unless you make them touch grass. In other words, I believe that deplatforming might be the key to saving lives.
But really, why aren’t these platforms putting a disclaimer for mental health resources on there when it’s clear someone’s not well, at the very least? The warning signs were there!
As of right now, Substack is a potential ticking time bomb. It’s only a matter of time before someone sues them because of something horrific that happened shortly after warning signs were posted on its platform.
Why are they seemingly okay with this? I don’t know, but I can’t see this working out well for them.
Shouldn't his family have noticed he was becoming unhinged on social media?
If I didn't have access to social media when I wasn't doing well, that's what would be the last straw.
If someone is reaching out for attention that bad, give it to them by getting them help.
Let's stop trying to shut up the people whose voices we don't like. If Substack banned this guy for what he said, they could ban any of us for whatever reason.
Substack is very deliberately hands off with moderation. If you're against that, there are other platforms you might prefer. Many are here because Substack refuses to censor.
Liberals can't be against book bans and then get mad that Substack won't censor the people they don't like.
Holy shit! 😳