For a little less than three hours today (Aug. 10), a young man climbed Trump Tower with a harness and suction cups. He made it to the 21st floor before New York police grabbed him through an open window, around 6:30pm New York time.
The dangerous climb follows a YouTube video uploaded yesterday (Aug. 9), titled ”Message to Mr. Trump (why I climbed your tower).” In it, a hooded man endorses the Republican presidential nominee and asks for a meeting with him. Whether the identity of the man in the video is the same as that of the actual climber is unconfirmed.
The person in the video calls himself an “independent researcher.” He uploaded his video to the YouTube channel ”Leven Thumps,” which has no other videos at time of writing.
The name Leven Thumps comes from a popular fantasy-adventure series by Obert Skye, and is named after its protagonist, who goes by Lev. The five-book series takes place between Burnt Culvert, Oklahoma in the fictional “real” world and another world called Foo, where dreams come true.
The Gateway, the first book in the series, was released in 2006 by Aladdin Paperbacks, a children’s imprint of Simon & Schuster. In the first few pages of the book Lev’s mother dies, and he’s shipped off to a distant relative. Writes Skye of his protagonist:
Lev originally knows nothing of Foo or of his heritage. He eventually discovers he is an offing who can see and manipulate the future. Lev’s brown eyes burn gold whenever his gift kicks in.
Throughout the series, the plot includes a pervasive threat to the dreams of humans. In one book, the US president addresses the nation on television, announcing a state of global emergency in which fields and buildings become sentient and turn on humans.