New York: A 19-year-old man from Virginia created an hours-long media spectacle when he climbed 21 floors of the Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan using suction cups and straps allegedly to meet Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump but was arrested for the stunt.
Stephen Rogata, from Great Falls in Virginia, was safely pulled inside the building by the police personnel after nearly three hours-long dare-devil stunt last evening.
He was dragged inside through a window on the 21st floor of the 68-story skyscraper.
New York police said on Thursday that he had been arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespass.
The 70-year-old real estate tycoon, whom police said Rogata wanted to meet, was out of town at the time of the incident.
The stunt was witnessed by hundreds of passerby and live on television as the news and visuals of his escapade circulated widely on social media.
Police said the man's motive was to climb to the top of the tower and get a personal meeting with Trump, whose name is on the priciest real estate in Manhattan.
Trump was on his presidential campaign tour in Virginia. Security is tight around the tower, which is the site of Trump's campaign launch and is also his residence.
The Republican presidential candidate responded through Twitter saying, "Great job today by the NYPD in protecting the people and saving the climber."
Personnel from the New York Police Department had to undertake elaborate safety measures as well as some extreme steps like breaking some windows in the tower to pull the man inside the building.
They raised a ladder in an effort to stop him, but had to close it as he moved higher. Apart from breaking windows to reach him, police also placed inflated giant cushions below him in case he tumbled off the 58-story Trump headquarters.
The man was eventually pulled inside moments after he ascended to a tight spot near a large window removed by police.
Police later said the man had told them that he had posted a YouTube video on Tuesday titled "Message to Mr Trump (why I climbed your tower)."
In the message a hooded man claimed he was an "independent researcher."
"Believe me, if my purpose was not significant, I would not risk my life pursuing it. The reason I climbed your tower was to get your attention," the man said in the video.
At the end of the entire episode, emergency responders brought the man out of the building on a stretcher and placed him in an ambulance. The man was then taken to a city hospital for mental evaluation.
The entire spectacle was watched by thousands online as passersbys recorded videos of the climb and posted it on social media platforms.
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