Judge Engoron evacuated from court due to fire set hours after Trump case hearing: report

Justice Arthur Engoron, the judicial official overseeing the civil fraud case in which Donald Trump has been found liable for fraud in real estate dealings, was reportedly evacuated from the court on Wednesday after a small fire was set in the court four hours after the ex-president's case had a hearing.

Engoron has tried to use gag orders to protect his staff from potential attacks from Trump fans. Trump has continued to appeal the orders, and has attacked the justice's law clerk when the gag orders are paused.

Now, a fire forced the judge to flee, according to Business Insider's report.

"Four hours after testimony wrapped in the civil fraud trial against Donald Trump and the Trump Organization, the lower Manhattan courthouse was evacuated after someone set papers on fire, then pulled and used multiple fire extinguishers on the same floor as the courtroom," the outlet reported on Wednesday. "The judge in the case, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, was in his robing room when he heard shouting on the floor, and was safely escorted out of the courthouse."

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It continued:

"The judge was unaware of any specific personal threat at the time he evacuated. Two courthouse officials told Business Insider that the evacuation was prompted by a man creating a small fire by igniting paperwork, and then setting off two or more fire extinguishers. The man, who was not identified and was not a courthouse employee, was arrested, they said."

"Fire and police personnel quickly responded to the incident," according to the Business Insider report. "At around 5 p.m., the judge and other employees of the fourth floor were allowed to go upstairs to collect their belongings before leaving for the day."

The article further states that no one was hurt in the incident.

"It was not immediately clear what prompted the man to set the fire," the report states.