OKLAHOMA CITY — The man climbing the Devon Tower in downtown Oklahoma City protesting abortion on Tuesday morning speaks out on why he did it.
The climber is now known as Maison Des Champs. Going by as 'pro-life Spiderman' on social media, Des Champs began his climb around 8 a.m.
According to KFOR, the man streamed the event on Instagram stating this was in protest of abortion. Des Champs also hired a local videographer to catch drone footage of him climbing the building.
Oklahoma City police received their first call about Des Champs around 8:40 a.m. They arrived shortly after to secure the scene and close streets near the Devon Tower.
Des Champs climbed the building for nearly an hour and a half before reaching the top. He eventually made his way to safety on a nearby ledge where OKC firefighters were waiting for him.
Shortly after, Des Champs was arrested by police with initial complaints of trespassing and disorderly conduct. According to OKC Police Captain Valerie Littlejohn, the disorderly conduct charge was later dropped.
Once he was released, Des Champs shared more with KFOR about why he scaled Devon Tower:
“I climbed it to raise money for a charity called Let Them Live. We’ve adopted a mom named Riley. And so, what Let Them Live is going to do is they’re going to try to pay for housing or health care and then help her get a job so that she doesn’t have to get an abortion."
Des Champs also says that the goal is not only to raise awareness but also to raise money in support of the pro-life movement.
KFOR also learned he has climbed other tall buildings across the United States, including Las Vegas, New York, San Francisco, and Detroit.
Devon Tower is the tallest building in the state at 845 feet tall. It opened to the public in October 2012.
This is a developing story. We'll continue to update as we learn more.
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