An “apparently emotionally disturbed person” was captured on video Monday in the reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City before sliding headfirst into the 20 ft. “central void.”
The 33-year-old suspect appeared to be bleeding when he slid into the basin and authorities said he also injured his left leg and back in the incident, according to NBC News.
He would be arrested for his actions that took place in the early afternoon and was taken to Bellevue Hospital for the non-life-threatening injuries, the network reported — officials said charges are pending.
The footage of the incident was making the rounds online, as seen here:
Man jumps into reflecting pool at 9/11 Memorial in New York City
The 33-year-old man was arrested and taken to Bellevue Hospital with a leg injury, police said#NewYork pic.twitter.com/Qs4Zw4QkFX
— ImJohn313 (@ImJohn_313) October 10, 2023
“Security guards were spotted erecting chains around the pool to discourage anyone else from jumping in,” NBC News reported, after the man was taken into custody.
The fact that chains were not already in place for this purpose comes as a bit of a surprise.
There are two pools at the 9/11 memorial, representing the actual footprints of the Twin Towers that fell during the Islamic terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Each pool descends 30 feet into a basin that features a 20-foot void at the center, according to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum website.
The bronze perimeter of the pools features the names of 2,983 people who were killed in 2001, along with the names of those who died in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
It’s not clear why the man jumped into the pool, but police do not believe it was politically motivated or a protest in response to the violence in the Middle East, according to the New York Daily News.
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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