Last week we reported on the guy who climbed Trump Tower, and on Wednesday he was arraigned in Manhattan court. The real-life spider man appeared via video-chat from Bellevue Hospital where he is under involuntarily observation.
Stephen Rogata, a 19-year-old from Virginia, attempted attract the attention of the Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump by climbing his tower with giant suction cups. DNAinfo reported that Rogata wanted “to get a message to Trump,” and he specified to police that “It has to do with when he becomes president, how he’ll govern.”
Rogata was charged with reckless endangerment, BASE jumping, criminal trespass and trespass by the DA’s office and bail has been set at $10,000 bond and $5,000 cash. DNAInfo repored that Tara Collins, Rogata’s Legal Aid Society attorney, asked the judge to take her clients mental state into account:
“At best what he did was profoundly stupid and lacking in good judgment […] As the court knows, 19-to-20 is the age when some mental illness begins to develop. Jail would be awful for my client.”
Rogata’s next court appearance will be on October 13th. We’ll follow up with more as the story progresses.
Featured image source: [LUCAS JACKSON / Reuters via: nbcnews]