Los Angeles Times

Trump Tower climber queried

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A Virginia man who scaled the all-glass face of Trump Tower last week using suction cups planned his climb, ordering equipment on Amazon, practicing ahead of time and waiting until his parents were away before traveling to New York City, according to prosecutor­s.

Stephen Rogata, 19, dressed in blue hospital garb, answered a judge’s questions but made no other comments during his court appearance via video linkup from a Manhattan psychiatri­c hospital.

His hours-long climb of Donald Trump’s 58-story namesake Manhattan skyscraper on Aug. 10 was streamed live by various news organizati­ons and bystanders who watched as he slowly ascended floor after floor using a harness and climbing ropes.

At one point, a laptop he was carrying in his backpack fell out, crashing on the ground below as he plodded along from a fifth-floor atrium to the 21st floor, where he was hauled in through an open window by police detectives, said Pierre Griffith, an assistant district attorney.

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