Man arrested for scaling Lincoln Memorial during Twitch broadcast
A man was arrested on Sunday, April 21 after climbing the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. while broadcasting live on Twitch.
The man, identified only by his tag jettiki, was appearing as part of twomad’s stream, when he was challenged to climb on the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial and throw a bottle above the head of the statue, and catch it.
While in the process, the man was spotted by what appears to be police, and was placed in handcuffs for the stunt.
Man arrested for climbing on Lincoln Memorial
During his April 21 broadcast, twomad and his large group of guests convinced jettiki to climb up the statue at the Lincoln memorial, and throw a bottle he had into his possession high into the air, with the aim being that the bottle would rise above the head of the Lincoln statue and jettiki would catch it.
The man successfully threw and caught the bottle twice, with those who were part of twomad’s Twitch stream encouraging him to throw it higher as he stood on the historic monument.
After catching the bottle the second time, the man can be heard apologising to someone off screen, repeating “I’m sorry” as two officers approached him, and grabbed him. The man begged the officers while apologizing, who seemed uniterested in his grovelling as they placed him in handcuffs.
Jettiki can then be heard promising that he will not attempt to run away as they sat him on the ground, still pleading with the officers that he meant no harm.
Why did police arrest the man, and what could happen to him?
Over the years, many protesters have scaled the statue of Abraham Lincoln and used it as a way to spread their message, usually in an act of defiance against the government.
With Abraham Lincoln viewed as one of, if not the greatest presidents the United States has ever had, many would view Jettiki’s actions as extremely disrespectful. It’s likely viewed by law enforcement as criminal trespassing, as an Indianapolis man was arrested with this charge back in 2014 for a similar stunt at a Soldiers’ and Sailor’s Monument.
Whether the Washington D.C. Police Department chose to pursue charges against jettiki is currently unknown, but we’ll be sure to update this article as more information becomes available.