New York – A judge says three extreme-skydiving enthusiasts displayed “inexcusable self-indulgence” by parachuting off the 1 World Trade Center tower, and he won’t toss out the felony charges against them.
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The decision came Tuesday in the case against James Brady, Marko Markovich, Andrew Rossig and accused lookout Kyle Hartwell. They’re now headed for trial in January.
They have pleaded not guilty to felony burglary, reckless endangerment and other charges in the September 2013 leap. The stunt raised questions about security at the then-unfinished skyscraper.
The parachutists acknowledge making the jump. They say they didn’t imperil anyone and that the charges are overreaching by embarrassed authorities.
But the judge says they created a “substantial risk” of injury to people below.
Felony burglary? It was a jump, a skydiving thrill nothing more.
The real crime here is they showed how inept WTC security is. They embarrassed the powers that be.
Why not have an annual tower jump? Some Sunday the police could close off a few streets and people could parachute for a $10,000 fee? We could raise a lot of money for some charity.