The nation has witnessed a spectacle a few days ago regarding a young Trump supporter who reportedly scaled the Trump Tower in Manhattan (which is a whopping 68 stories, by the way). Why? Because he wanted Trump to recognize him… I’m not sure which is worse, the fact that he scaled this tower using nothing but large suction cups, or the fact that he wants Trump’s attention. You pick.
The world has been buzzing about this 19-year-old Virginia native. Originally born as Michael Joseph Ryan, it’s been reported that he legally changed his perfectly normal name to another perfectly normal name--Stephen Rogata.
The tower has been the source for many Trump protests, but Rogata brought something new to the table (or should I say, to the tower). Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how crazy you are) the police were able to pull the man to safety by the time he reached the 21st floor. His climb had lasted for three hours before anyone was able to catch him.
It’s said that since Trump’s campaign began to gain traction, they hired a police officer to be surveilling the premises 24/7, but obviously we can tell how good of a job he was doing, since no one seemed to notice the man climbing the tower until he was already five stories up. Police began lining the streets below him with inflatable cushions hoping that they would break his fall should he accidentally slip (considering the only things holding him were his suction cups and his harness, which was attached to the suction cups…). They even broke through a bunch of windows attempting to pull him in earlier. Their efforts obviously failed for over three hours.
After being detained, he was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing, according to a local reporter. Can stupidity be a charge too? He was taken in around 6:35 p.m., and transported to a local hospital where he was evaluated.
He has posted a Youtube video before climbing the tower alerting the world of the stunt he was about to pull. His main goal, along with getting his attention, was to talk to Trump privately about what he liked to call an “important matter.” This information was released in another Youtube video by a man who kinda looked like Stephen Rogata, so the whole world just assumed it was him because, why not? Want a link to see for yourself? Here ya go.
Many people are comparing this walk to Philppe Petit’s cable walk across the Twin Towers back in 1974, which was such a memorable story that it recently became a movie starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The only problem is, how can you compare a proclaimed artist to a 19 year old who wants to talk to Trump and thinks that scaling his tower is his best attempt? The world may never know.
All in all, this is another reason why we can dub this generation as a fearless group who doesn’t care what anyone thinks. Except this guy cares what people think, specifically Trump, which is scary and unnerving but yay for fearlessness!
