A 20-year-old Virginia man became a social-media star on Wednesday evening when he scaled Trump Tower using large suction cups, but the stunt failed to win him a private audience with the GOP nominee.
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The man went viral pretty quick, with news stations reporting it was an apparent bid to catch presidential candidate Donald Trump’s attention.
The man, whose identity was not revealed, was safely pulled in the building by the police personnel after almost three hours yesterday evening. He also lives there. Officers smashed windows and broke through ventilation ducts to block his progress.
The tower is headquarters to Trump’s presidential campaign and his business empire.
The daredevil, nicknamed the “human fly”, began climbing the iconic glass building using suction cups and rope at around 3.50pm yesterday.
The man started climbing the 68-story on the 5th floor, which is accessible to the public, creating a spectacle and shutting down 5th Avenue during rush hour. Officers are lowering themselves toward him using a window washer’s platform.
Donald Trump owns the Trump Tower in which his house is also located on the top floors of the huge building, while his office is located in the lower floors.
The chase ended dramatically just after 6:30 p.m.
After about three hours, the NYPD was able to grab him after removing a large window pane from the 21st floor and drag him inside to safety.
Detective Christopher Williams said: “He was climbing for a while and I could see he was getting exhausted”.
A day before the ascent, police said the climber posted a video on YouTube entitled, “Message to Mr. Trump (why I climbed your tower)”.
“Believe me, if my goal was not significant, I would not risk my life pursuing it”, the man said in the video.
Police said they did not believe the man meant to harm anyone.
Trump later tweeted Wednesday about the incident, saying, “Great job today by the NYPD in protecting the people and saving the climber”.
Police took him to a hospital for a psychological evaluation, after which he would be arrested, Morris said.
“This man performed a ridiculous and risky stunt”.
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“I’m 100 percent certain the NYPD had better things to do”, he said.
