Anti-abortion activist climbs San Francisco’s tallest building

A man was arrested in San Francisco on Tuesday after free-climbing the Salesforce tower, in a stunt apparently intended as a protest against abortion.

The man, who calls himself the “pro-life Spider-man”, was reportedly arrested on Tuesday afternoon. The city’s fire department confirmed the incident on Twitter and encouraged the public to “join us in condemning this action”.

Footage posted to social media from inside and outside the tower showed the man climbing the office skyscraper without safety gear. He was reportedly met by authorities at the top and swiftly taken into custody.

At 60 floors and 1,070 feet, the Salesforce tower is the second tallest building west of the Mississippi and the 17th tallest in the US, and is a defining feature of the San Francisco skyline.

The activist apparently sought to protest against a specific abortion provider, according to posts on his personal Instagram. He has gone to similarly extreme measures to draw attention to other rightwing causes in the past, including climbing the 600ft Aria hotel in August to protest Covid-19 mandates in the state.

The stunt came a day after a leaked draft opinion revealed that the US supreme court is poised to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark decision guaranteeing the right to an abortion.

The unprecedented leak has sparked widespread protests across the US, with both pro-choice advocates and anti-abortion advocates gathering outside the supreme court in Washington DC and in cities across the country, including Nashville, Dallas, New York City and New Orleans.