LOS ANGELES — A man has been arrested after climbing near the top of the 54-story Ritz-Carlton skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The man was reported climbing the hotel-condo tower shortly before 9 a.m., according to Officer Melissa Podany, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson.
Video posted on Twitter showed an anti-abortion banner hung on the side of the Ritz-Carlton and what appears to be a person standing outside the building. The Indiana-based group Let Them Live claimed the person who climbed the building was Maison DesChamps, a protester who has scaled other skyscrapers and buildings to bring attention to the anti-abortion movement.
DesChamps notified the organization he would be climbing the building, the group’s president, Emily Berring, said in an email. The group claims it wants to give women “another choice besides abortion by offering financial support.”
The group said it does not plan to pay DesChamps’ legal fees, and it’s unclear what charges he may face.
The man was taken into custody around 9:30 a.m., according to the LAPD.
DesChamps scaled the Sales Force Tower in San Francisco in May, when a draft opinion from the United States Supreme Court was leaked signaling that the court would overturn Roe vs. Wade.
