A few hours after the civil fraud trial of Donald Trump and his company ended its testimony, the lower Manhattan court building was cleared out after someone lit papers on fire and used several fire extinguishers on the same floor where the judge’s dressing room was.

New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who presided over the case, was in his dressing room when he heard yelling on the floor around 4:15 p.m. He was safely taken out of the court building.

Two court officials informed Business Insider that the evacuation was caused by a man who started a small fire by burning paperwork and then triggered two or more fire extinguishers.

The man, who did not work at the court, was swiftly arrested by court officers, they said.

He did not seem to have aimed at the trial or the judge.

Firefighters and police officers quickly arrived at the scene. There were no severe injuries. Two court officers, one of them a sergeant, were sent to a hospital for a checkup, and 14 other court officers were treated at the spot, according to Alfred Baker, a spokesperson for the state court system.

Four hours after testimony wrapped up in the Trump civil fraud trial in New York, it looks like some clown yanked, and used, a fire extinguisher on the same floor of the court. Two court officials told me that the joker was rapidly caught. pic.twitter.com/A9Sl1ztHBx

— Laura Italiano (@Italiano_Laura) December 13, 2023 Around 5 p.m., the judge and other staff on the fourth floor were allowed to go back upstairs to get their things before leaving for the day.

One officer told the judge and others who came back to the fourth floor, “Wear your mask if you have one,” because the floor was polluted by chemicals from the fire extinguishers.

The incident was a weird ending to the end of testimony; it was not clear right away what made the man set the fire.

The accused, Paris Nesbitt, 38, was charged with trying to commit arson in the second degree and reckless endangerment.