Posted on 03/23/2016 8:06:20 AM PDT by jacknhoo
SEATTLE - Police and firefighters spent much of Tuesday and Wednesday morning trying to coax down a man who climbed to the top of downtown Seattle's iconic 80-foot-tall Sequoia tree and has refused to come down.
Crews brought a ladder truck to the scene, at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Stewart Street, after receiving reports of a man stuck in the upper branches of the tall tree, just after 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The fire truck's ladder was extended to within a few feet of the man, then negotiators climbed up and tried to speak with him.
So far he has refused to come down, spending the entire night in the treetop.
Earlier, the man threw an apple at medics who came to his rescue. The man, with a long beard and wool cap, was also seen tossing small branches, orange peels, pine cones and other materials at rescuers and claimed to be armed with a knife, Seattle Police said. He later requested a pack of Camel Crush cigarettes.
A KOMO news team at the scene said the man appeared agitated, shouting and "flipping the bird" at spectators. Surrounding witnesses questioned the man's mental health, while others speculated he may be high on drugs.
By hour four, the man had stripped the top of the tree bare. He tore the limbs off and hurled them at officers and firefighters. Even as darkness fell Tuesday evening, the man remain perched at the top. He was still there Wednesday morning at 6:30 a.m.
At one point, the man climbed about halfway down the tree, paused, then climbed all the way back to the top, breaking off new branches during the trip. His behavior alternates between periods of quiet calm and agitated yelling.
A drone zoomed by during the early morning hours, but it quickly left and has not returned.
Meanwhile on the Internet, #ManInTree has gone viral on Twitter becoming a trending hashtag nationwide. An anonymous user even created, and is tweeting from, the Twitter handle "@Man_in_Tree".
The iconic tree was planted at the site in the 1970s and was the focus of an ambitious effort to save it about six years ago after its condition deteriorated. Seattle DOT officials say they will review the health of the tree once the ordeal is over with.
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This is a developing news story. More information will be posted as it becomes available.
Then the birds to eat the lizards.
Then the wildcats to get rid of the birds.
At some point it will circle back around to bringing in crazy humans to sit in the trees.
Well, you said it. Gud fer you.
Sap.
President Coolidge was a proponent of taking this path when ever possible.
Well, they usually shoot first... that sensitivity training must be working.
Kinda hot. Bat$hit crazy, though.
don’t give him food or water. He’ll come down.
Simplicity’s Genius, you are it. (Yoda speak)
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