A shaggy-haired man was scaling Trump Tower in New York Wednesday using suction cups and prompting a police response outside the Manhattan headquarters of the Republican nominee for USA president.
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The tower is headquarters to Trump’s Republican presidential campaign and his business empire.
Donald Trump weighed in on Twitter about the event.
The man, from Great Falls, Virginia, was identified as 19-year-old Michael Joseph Ryan, but he recently changed his name to Stephen Rogata and had new identification made up, according to the NYPD.
A Virginia teenager who climbed partway up Trump Tower had a history of problems at home.
The daredevil’s climb ended just as he reached the 21st floor, where NYPD officers grabbed him and brought him inside the building. The video, posted to YouTube, shows a man who looks like the climber talking about why he planned to climb Trump Tower.
It was unclear when Rogata would appear in court or if he had an attorney who could comment for him. “If I had sought this via conventional means, I would be much less likely to have success because you are a busy man with many responsibilities”.
Finally, police pulled out an entire window at the 21st floor, creating a single-pane bottleneck for Rogata. Donald Trump tweeted about the incident late Wednesday night.
“This man performed a ridiculous and unsafe stunt”, Trump Organization Executive Vice President Michael Cohen told reporters. Steve said it was in Trump’s interest to honor this request.
Police officers smashed a window and ventilation duct in an attempt to block the man’s path. The NYPD’s Special Operations Division set up a giant airbag underneath the climber, and portions of Fifth Avenue were closed to traffic.
In a weird video posted to YouTube before his climb, he revealed he’s a Trump supporter who climbed the building to get the real estate tycoon’s attention.
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Terraces and other parts of the building are open to the public during the day.
