Man in six-hour standoff with police 460ft in air on bridge demands jam sandwich | World | News
Mystery vandal atop 460ft-high protest perch (Image: Today)
A mystery daredevil is currently locked in a six-hour standoff with police after climbing a 460ft bridge pillar to spray graffiti, demand lower taxes and ask for a sandwich.
An unidentified graffiti artist has scaled the iconic Bolte Bridge in Melbourne, Australia, to add another striking mural to the city’s skyline, depicting the city’s famous Pam the Bird tag.
To the officers’ disappointment, he remained perched atop the bridge pier, at times partially obscured by cloud due to his staggering 460ft elevation, as emergency responders watched anxiously from below, fearing for his well-being.
But the mysterious vandal seems perfectly happy with his elevated position, which has caused serious traffic chaos on the Bolte Bridge and the M1 motorway.
Before agreeing to get off, he laid out an extraordinary list of demands and shared them through a social media account linked to Bird Pam.
At the top of the Adam Bolte Bridge, the Bird can be seen as a small black dot above the Pam label (Image: Today)
While he initially put forward the “lowering of taxes” as a condition for lowering taxes, he also demanded a “loophole” to shelter from the bitter winter cold.
It’s worth noting that Melbourne is located on the southeastern coastline of Australia and has a much cooler climate than many people expect. Indeed, temperatures dropped by as much as three degrees this morning; A number that is probably even more painful at 460 ft above the ground.
The masked figure, dressed all in black, filmed himself looking at several emergency vehicles and the road below as he pressed demands for tax relief. “I’m not coming down until taxes are lowered,” he can be heard saying in the social media clip.
“I’m sick of paying for this shit.”
He’s really into PB&J (Image: Instagram)
When asked by social media users which taxes he was talking about, the account owner simply replied, “All of them.”
At around 8 a.m. local time, he put forward his next request: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk or I’m not coming down,” he is heard saying in another social media clip.
He has since firmly reiterated that demand, posting a masked photo of himself perched atop the pillar with the caption “patiently waiting for my pb and j sandwich.”
Shortly before 9am, he sent the officers’ blood pressure soaring as he rappelled halfway down the column and waved to onlookers below, before (presumably) climbing back to his fairly safe position at the top.
He has since issued an update informing authorities that he planned to land at noon; It was about an hour away at the time of this writing.
“I will be down calmly at 12 o’clock,” he wrote online, adding that he was waiting for the tide to come out. Sea level is located at the top of one of the entrance pillars of the Bolte Bridge, a further 95 ft below the aforementioned 460 ft high viewpoint.
It remains unclear exactly how the man managed to climb the pillar, but footage from the scene shows he climbed down to carry out his spray-painting job. The Pam the Bird tag has been seen on landmarks and landmarks around Melbourne since 2023.
Mystery vandal, masked and clad head to toe in black, takes a selfie (Image: Today)
Pam the Bird has so far appeared at Melbourne’s famous Flinders Street Station and in the city’s ‘International Gateway’ architectural installation along the M1 for visitors to observe as they enter the city from Tullamarine, Melbourne’s international airport.
Bird Pam appeared in the particularly large ‘Cheese Stick’; the installation consisted of multiple large orange beams (carrot sticks) and one yellow beam (large cheese stick) to decorate the otherwise straight highway.
It currently remains at the top of the bridge.
