Seattle Man in Tree / #ManInTree

Submission 8,917

Overview

The Man in Tree is a nickname given to an unidentified man who climbed a historic 80-foot Sequoia tree in downtown Seattle, Washington on the morning of March 22nd, 2016. Despite several rescue attempts made by the Seattle Fire Department, the mysterious man refused to cooperate and spent the night in a makeshift fort, which drew the attention of curious local residents and online discussions in the social media, as well as extensive coverage from both local and national news outlets, including a real-time livecast of the site of the occupation. The man descended the tree at 2:45 pm (E.S.T.), ate a snack, and was taken from the scene by medical personnel.

Background

An 80-foot Sequoia tree has grown next to a Macy's on 4th Avenue and Stewart Street in Downtown Seattle since the 1970s; the tree is notable for its annual Christmas decorations.^[1] On March 22nd, 2016, at 11:30 am PST, witnesses alerted police that a man who may have been wielding a knife had begun to climb the tree.^[2] According to the witnesses, the man appeared to be having a "mental health crisis." Shortly after the arrival of the police and fire departments to the scene, they closed the surrounding streets and attempted to use a ladder truck to convince the man to come down. In response, the man began throwing apples, pinecones, and branches at first responders, and giving them the middle finger.^[3]

The man refused assistance, and the emergency personnel could not persuade him to come down. The man remained in the tree overnight, only once descending halfway down the tree before climbing back up. He created a small fort out of tree branches.^[4] The local television news KOMO began live streaming in the afternoon, attracting an international group of viewers. ^[5] As of 11 am PST on March 23rd, the man continued to rest in the tree as police communicated with him through a sixth-floor window of the nearby Macy's store.

Developments

As of 2:45 pm (E.S.T.) the man descended the tree, climbing down to safety. He was given some fruit and entered a conversation with the police. He was then taken away on a stretcher.

Online Reaction

After the man's ascent had been widely reported in the international media, including outlets like Gawker,^[3] The New York Times,^[10] and The New York Daily News,^[2] the hashtag #ManInTree began to trend on Twitter nationwide^[7]. The topic was also trending on Facebook, with at least 110,000 people searching for "man in tree" or discussing "the man in the tree."^[9] At 4:38 pm EST, someone started a parody Twitter account for the man, Man_in_Tree, which quickly acquired more than 2,500 followers.^[6] In addition, the Seattle Police Department Twitter account has been keeping many abreast of the events, creating several popular tweets, some of which were jokes.^[8]