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Wednesday, August 10, 2016
By APB Staff Writer
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A 19-year-old man equipped with large suction cups, who the NYPD said wanted to talk to Donald Trump, scaled the Trump Tower for three-hours on Wednesday before members of the Elite ESU division pulled him inside the building.
Police were first alerted that someone was climbing the Trump Tower believed he was going to jump.
The man, who is from Virginia and had several forms of identification with him was wearing shorts, a black shirt and a backpack, climbed the skyscraper until officers grabbed him just after 6:30 PM.
The man was brought out of the building on a stretcher on the Fifth Avenue main entrance, sitting up with his head down and his hair covering his face. He was put into an ambulance and taken to the Bellevue Hospital Center for a psychiatric evaluation.
The FDNY with police ripped out windows and vent grates while deployed air bags on the ground throughout the man’s climb. Police activity caused extensive traffic in the surrounding area.
“What he explained to us is that he wanted a personal meeting with Mr. Trump,” said Bill Aubry, NYPD chief of Manhattan detectives pointing out that the man posted a YouTube video on Tuesday.
“That YouTube video explains that he’s an independent researcher, and he wanted to meet with Mr. Trump and that’s the reason why he was climbing this building. At no time did he express he wanted to hurt anybody. His sole intention was to meet with Mr. Trump.”
The Virginia man who scaled Trump Tower in an effort to speak to the Republican presidential nominee was charged Thursday morning but remained in the hospital under psychiatric evaluation, police said.
The 19-year-old climber, Stephen Rogata, from Great Falls, Virginia, was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespass and remains in the hospital under psychiatric evaluation, police said.
But a police source said Rogata, who was found with multiple IDs when he was pulled through an open window to safety after climbing for three hours, had actually changed his name from Michael Joseph Ryan.
The building serves as the headquarters for Trump’s presidential campaign, as well as Mr. Trump’s primary residence and offices.
