# Man holding Palestinian flag comes down from Big Ben tower

7 days ago

This article is shared by BBC News

Thomas Symonds & Jess Warren, BBC News

## Main Content

A man who climbed up Big Ben's Elizabeth Tower carrying a Palestinian flag has been brought down after more than 16 hours.

The barefoot man had made his way on to a ledge several metres up the tower at the Palace of Westminster on Saturday morning.

He had been heard telling negotiators he would come down on his "own terms".

Emergency crews went up in a crane to negotiate with him, and the intruder eventually came down in the cherry picker after Big Ben struck midnight.


*BBC - Man being taken down from tower*

In a video posted on Instagram on Saturday evening, he could be heard saying: "If you come towards me you are putting me in danger and I will climb higher."

He had filmed his climb and said that he was protesting against "police repression and state violence".

The Met Police says officers were called to the tower at 07:24 GMT. The incident led to the closure of Westminster Bridge and the cancellation of Parliament tours.


*PA Media - A man with a Palestine flag holding on to Elizabeth Tower*


*PA Media - Emergency services including a fire engine with an extendable ladder at the Palace of Westminster*


*PA Media - A man with a Palestine flag speaks into a phone as he stands on the Elizabeth Tower*

At least nine emergency service vehicles lined Bridge Street in central London as crowds looked on from beyond a police cordon.

Three emergency personnel were lifted several metres up on a fire brigade aerial ladder platform at around 10:00 GMT, with one person using a megaphone to speak to the man on the ledge.

Negotiations then continued throughout the day and into the night.


*PA Media - Emergency workers on the ground. One firefighter holds a pair of binoculars to his eyes.*

The incident began when the man got into the grounds of Parliament, walked up some steps, quickly climbed onto a railing, and up the side of Elizabeth Tower.

At one point he took his shoes off to enable him to climb higher to a ledge. He injured his feet, and patches of blood could be seen on the stonework of the tower.

The man was spotted within minutes by police on the ground, who asked if he was able to get down safely.

Photographs throughout the day showed him sitting on the ledge with the flag and wrapped a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarf around the decorative stonework on the tower.


*PA Media - People watch a man with a Palestine flag after he climbed up Elizabeth Tower.*

Crowds gathered behind police cordons to watch the incident unfold on Elizabeth Tower.


*Reuters - People watch a man with a Palestine flag after he climbed up Elizabeth Tower.*

A spokesman for London Fire Brigade (LFB) said crews from Lambeth, Chelsea, Soho and Islington fire stations were responding to the incident alongside the police.

The London Ambulance sent an ambulance crew, an incident response officer, and members of its hazardous area response team (HART) to the scene.


*Reuters - Firefighters and first responders gather on a street as a man with a Palestinian flag climbs the Elizabeth Tower.*

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