A man who climbed Big Ben's Elizabeth tower in London on Saturday with a Palestinian flag has been arrested by the British police after a 16-hour standoff.
The man had scaled the lower sections of the tower at London's Palace of Westminster early Saturday, and refused to come down, despite constant efforts by the police and fire brigade officers to negotiate with him. Several videos of him on the tower, waving the flag and shouting "free Palestine", surfaced on social media.
"We worked with other agencies including the London Fire Brigade and deployed specialist officers to bring this incident to a close as quickly as possible whilst minimising risk to life," Reuters quoted a Metropolitan Police spokesperson as saying.
Videos showed the man sitting barefoot on the ledge with the flag and a Palestianian keffiyeh, a headdress men wear in the Middle East. He shared the entire incident on Instagram and even shared his intention to remain on the tower for three and a half days.
The man also said he was protesting against "police repression and state violence", BBC reported.
One of the videos showed the three members of the emergency crew in a crane trying to negotiate with the man. He could be heard warning the crew that they were putting his life in danger as he would have to climb up further if they intervened.
However, he later agreed to come down telling the negotiators that he would return only "on his own terms", Sky News reported.
He was ultimately brought down in a cherry picker, and was seen waving the Palestinian flag as he descended.
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Man Comes Down After 16-Hour Standoff
The incident occurred after the man got into the Parliament grounds and quickly climbed onto a railing and up the side of the tower. He then took off his shoes to be able to climb higher to reach a ledge. He even injured his feet and blood patches were visible on the stonework of the tower, BBC reported.
The police on the ground spotted him within minutes. The emergency services shut down the Westminster Bridge on Saturday morning due to the incident. The parliamentary tours were also cancelled.
At least nine emergency service vehicles were lined up on Bride Street as crowds looked on while the man stayed atop the tower.
An ambulance crew, incident response officer, and members of London Ambulance's hazardous area response team (HART) were sent to the scene. Negotiations continued throughout the day and into the night, and the man finally gave up and decided to come down after 16 hours.
It was only after the man came down and was arrested that the roads were reopened.
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