The boneheaded Donald Trump fan who used suction cups to scale the blowhard billionaire’s namesake tower in Midtown changed his name before making the insane climb, officials said Thursday.
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This story has been corrected to show Trump Tower is 58 stories tall, not 68, and to show Michael Ryan was Rogata’s birth name, not his legal name.
In a video uploaded to YouTube a day earlier, Rogata, who lives in Great Falls, Virginia, addressed Trump, saying he was an “independent researcher” who needed a private audience with the billionaire to discuss an unspecified important matter. Since then, police have appeared to try to coax him inside, first by throwing a rope in his direction and then by opening a large grate directly above him.
Police have identified the climber as a 20-year-old Virginia man and say he’s being evaluated at a hospital. He said in the video that he wanted to get Trump’s attention, and that he supports him.
A former paid worker for Donald Trump’s presidential bid has accused the campaign’s North Carolina state director of pointing a loaded handgun at him.
NYPD officials informed on this event at a news briefing Wednesday evening.
It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney. “I just don’t know how many people will watch this”.
He was speaking with officers through the holes cut in the side of the building. He was taken into custody by authorities who reached through an open window as he tried to pass the 21st floor. I guarantee that it’s in your interest to honor this request.
The video amassed more than 1 million views by Thursday.
Police deployed large, inflated crash pads at the scene but made no visible attempt to grab him as he passed their positions until the very end. Police inflated giant airbags on the street and a landing on the building in case the man fell. Did he want to express his disappointment with Trump Steaks?
“This man performed a ridiculous and unsafe stunt”, Michael Cohen, an executive at the Trump Organization, said in a statement. I dunno. For his part, the GOP presidential candidate took to Twitter to thank the NYPD for handling the situation safely.
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Detective Christopher Williams, standing at one of the windows opened by police, said when Rogata dismissed the warning he waited for the opportune moment to pull the teen into the building.
