Family: Man Who Set Himself on Fire at National Mall Was Mentally Ill

Was not a political statement

It was mental illness — not politics — that drove a New Jersey man to set himself ablaze in Washington on the National Mall.

John Constantino had fought a "long battle with mental illness."

"His death was not a political act or statement," family lawyer Jeffrey Cox said in a statement Tuesday.

Cox did not divulge why Constantino, who was 64 and had once lived in Queens, torched himself on Friday.