Hundreds of people have paused on their way to work to check out the man refusing to leave his perch near the top of an 80-foot sequoia tree in downtown Seattle. Many pulled out their phones to take a photo of his silhouette against the gray, drizzling sky and marveled that he was still there nearly a full day after climbing up.
The man spent much of the morning reclining quietly in the upper branches, but he resumed gesticulating wildly and shouting when two police officers tried to talk to him from sixth-floor windows of the Macy's department store building next door.
Local chef Michelle Matsko gazed up at the man from underneath her red umbrella and wondered if he was trying to make a statement. She called his endurance impressive. Another woman, Janice Wilson, repeatedly yelled to him: "We love you! Come down safely!" The unusual standoff started shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday at 4th Avenue and Stewart Street between the Macy's and Westlake Center.
Police shut down nearby traffic as the man threw apples at police and pedestrians, then later branches. He ripped off most of the branches at the top of the tree, which has been there since the 1970s, according to Seattle Police.
The Seattle Department of Transportation says Olive Way is closed between 3rd and 4th avenues. Stewart Street is closed between 4th and 5th avenues.4th avenues. Stewart Street is closed between 4th and 5th avenues.