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A man scaled the side of Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan Wednesday afternoon with suction cups and a climbing harness, drawing hundreds of onlookers and prompting a significant police response.
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The 58-story building is the headquarters for the election campaign of Donald Trump, the U.S. Republican presidential nominee.
The man, wearing shorts, a black shirt and a backpack, was climbing the tower's glass exterior, above an outdoor terrace around five stories off the ground, according to a Reuters reporter on the scene. He has since been detained by police.
In a video posted on YouTube the day before, a self-described Trump supporter said he was climbing the tower in order to draw attention to his request to meet with Donald Trump to deliver information he said would be important to his campaign.
“I’m an independent researcher seeking a private audience with you to discuss an important matter,” says the man in the video. “The reason I climbed your tower was to get your attention. If I sought this via conventional means, I would be much less likely to have success, because you are a busy man with many responsibilities.”
“As for anyone else who’s watching,” the man continues, “please help this video go viral so that it gets to Mr. Trump and be sure to get out and vote for Mr. Trump in the 2016 election.”
Reports of the climber first surfaced on Twitter and social media around 4 p.m. local time. Over the following hour, police appeared to try various ways of coaxing the man inside, first by throwing a rope in his direction and then by opening a large grate directly above his position.
Shortly after 5 p.m., someone shattered a window on the 16th floor, a few stories above the man, and draped what looked like blankets over the ledge.
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