--- description: A man spent hours climbing Trump Tower using suction cups before police pulled him into a window title: Police Stop Man Climbing Trump Tower Using Suction Cups image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9eef7af18bd8c10c/6988a1f15f570fcc4fb22284/trump-tower-climber.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Police Stop Man Climbing Trump Tower Using Suction Cups by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:23 AM CUTPublished: Aug 10, 2016 8:56 PM CUT  Trump Tower street entrance. Trump Tower street entrance.Adina Tovy—Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:23 AM CUTPublished: Aug 10, 2016 8:56 PM CUT Police apprehended a 20-year-old Virginia man who climbed Trump Tower on Wednesday. The man scaled the building for about three hours late Wednesday afternoon before police grabbed him from a window around 6:30 p.m. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital for a psychological exam, and will be charged once police determine the appropriate course of action, officials said. The man was attempting to climb to the top of Trump Tower in order to speak with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, police told reporters in a news conference. He posted a [video to YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP493LmSJrE "undefined") on Tuesday, saying he was an “independent researcher” seeking a private audience with Trump to “discuss an important matter.” He also encouraged people to vote for Trump in the upcoming election. “The reason I climbed your tower was to get your attention,” he said in the video. “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.” The man had made it to the sixth floor sub roof of the building’s south side around 4:30 p.m. and was continuing his climb, using a device made of suction cups, according to the NYPD. Authorities appeared to break a glass window above the man, but he quickly pivoted to the side and continued to climb. A witness told [ABC](http://abc7news.com/politics/man-climbing-trump-tower;-police-on-the-scene----watch-live/1464603/ "undefined") that the man was standing on the sub roof garden, which is open to the public, when he started climbing on the building’s East 56th Street side. > [](https://twitter.com/JasonC1219/status/763467123553251331) Witnesses were confused about the climber’s purpose and posted [several pictures](http://time.com/4447474/man-climbing-trump-tower-suction-cup-reaction/ "undefined") of the climber on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/Sophies%5FWord/status/763468204907913216) > [](https://twitter.com/Gerjersey/status/763469216448147456) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4447369/man-scales-trump-tower-suction-cups/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4447369/man-scales-trump-tower-suction-cups/"},"headline":"Police Stop Man Climbing Trump Tower Using Suction Cups","datePublished":"2016-08-10T20:56:46.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T04:23:18.000Z","description":"He used a device made of suction cups to climb the Manhattan building","url":"https://time.com/4447369/man-scales-trump-tower-suction-cups/","keywords":["New York"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9eef7af18bd8c10c/6988a1f15f570fcc4fb22284/trump-tower-climber.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9eef7af18bd8c10c/6988a1f15f570fcc4fb22284/trump-tower-climber.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump Tower street entrance.","caption":"Trump Tower street entrance.","creditText":"Adina Tovy—Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4447369/man-scales-trump-tower-suction-cups/","name":"Police Stop Man Climbing Trump Tower Using Suction Cups"}}]}] ```