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An unidentified naked man sits atop a cross on the West Bethel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles as fire paramedics and police try to talk him down (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
From 8 a.m. to around 3:15 p.m. yesterday, an unidentified nude twentysomething man, reported to be suicidal, sat 50 feet in the air atop the cross at West Bethel Presbyterian Church on La Brea Ave. between Wilshire and Olympic. He finally came down after a seven hour confrontation with the fire and police departments (including SWAT), who had placed an air cushion on the ground in case he fell and a ladder for him to climb down on, which he used.
Photographer Jonathan Alcorn got some interesting, to say the least, photos and David Markland at LA MetBlogs found a video of it on Youtube (watch it below the jump).
Last September in New York City, a naked man on a fire escape died after police tasered him. He fell 10 feet to the ground with nothing to catch him below. After it was announced that the taser use broke department rules, the officer who ordered the tasering killed himself and the officer who executed the action was promoted.
*Update: A witness told KTLA that the man told her he was "protesting against Christianity." He apparently climbed up clothed, but stripped and threw is clothes down. His only request during the standoff was a towel to wipe his hands clean after wiping his waste on the cross. An officer told the TV station that one of the crimes he would be arrested for was defacing a church, which is a felony.
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Um. That looks A LOT like my friend Navid that I haven't seen in a couple of years...
His name hasn't been released?
After checking the photos on Jonathan Alcorn's site, I'm fairly certain that is my friend.
I really hope he is alright.
It's a miracle!
Jesus has risen from the dead once again and he's everything I hoped he'd be.
He's kinda cute.
Motherfuck yes. I'm glad to see LAist finally start portraying my wonderful Mid-City neighborhood in a more positive light, instead of all those shit stories they usually print...
Yep, that is definitely Navid, Ramon.
WHAT THE FUCK. I just spoke with him three weeks ago!
He is kinda cute, and I was really ok with the naked on the cross thing; it psuedo-sexualizes the religious aspect. But, when you bring in the scat, well thats a whole nother story.
Hope he's going to be okay.
Was this around the area of Pinks? I was there yesterday morning and saw someone running around who looked a bit unstable at the time. He was wearing blue baggy pants and a long sleeve black t-shirt, called me a 'n-word spic', then sort of spit at me, then continued walking.
Hope he's okay. :-/
You just described an average day in Hollywood.
I figure some thought was given to putting a photo that so readily identifies the young man (and especially in the lead). I'm not against it, and you have every right to do so, but it's one of those "do we or don't we" situations that should always be mulled a bit.
Caption contest for #6?
"Kids, we don't like Jesus either."
what a hottie.
holy fuck. awesome.
This is a good look? This is attractive? What the fuck is wrong with you people?
this dude is my new hero
Way to set the bar high, dude!
Can Christians now start an Anti-Def..er..ication League?
Holy shit.
I'd like to see him try that on a mosque next time.
He's clearly looking to cash in on some future Charmin endorsement deal.