Yesterday, authorities announced their plans to charge four men involved in an early morning BASE jump off of 1 World Trade Center last September. Now, stunning first-person footage of their stunt has been released.
On Sep. 30, James Brady, Marco Markovich, Andrew Rossig climbed to the top of 1 WTC, leaping 1,776 feet from its spire while Kyle Hartwell played lookout on the ground. After learning that the Manhattan district attorney's office planned to charge them with burglary six months later, the men turned themselves in yesterday. They decided to release the video, which shows a jumper diving off the building and gliding to safety on the West Side Highway.
Attorney Timothy Parlatore criticized the city for waiting so long to take action. "Certainly it should be embarrassing to the city that after six months they’ve been investigating this and yet they’ve made no efforts to fix the hole in the fence to the No. 1 terror target in the world," he said. Their attorney also said that any money generated by YouTube ads will be forwarded to charity.
It almost goes without saying that the actions of Justin Casquejo put pressure on the city to charge the men, but the primary focus should be on fortifying 1 World Trade Center. In the meantime, marvel at the insane video that led to the charges.
GIF via Gawker
[via New York Post]
