The POS qualified it by saying it might be literal, or it might be figurative.
He’s looking for attention.
He wants to be arrested.
He should get worse. I'm reaching the point where I think we should go Roman on these people.
exactly -—i said this elsewhere-—literal/figurative-—he’s got himself covered-—would be a mistake to arrest him—he’d become something of a martyr, or cause celebre.