A person set themselves on fire outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place, according to CNN.
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CNN reporters said they saw a man engulfed in flames for more than three minutes on Friday.
"I see a totally charred human being," one of them said on air.
The shocking development came shortly after jury selection for the trial was completed, clearing the way for prosecutors and defence attorneys to make opening statements next week in a case stemming from hush money paid to a porn star.
The 12 jurors, along with 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, mostly 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.
Trump is accused of covering up a $US130,000 ($A202,365) 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.
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 Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
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.
Australian Associated Press
