Activist Arrested After Climbing to Top of Las Vegas Sphere
Activist and self-proclaimed 'pro-life Spider-Man' Maison DesChamps was arrested Wednesday after he successfully climbed to the top of the Las Vegas Sphere.
On Wednesday morning, a man illegally climbed the Las Vegas Sphere. Las Vegas resident Maison DesChamps uploaded a video to his social media accounts in which he addressed followers from the top of the city’s signature orb. DesChamps is a self-proclaimed “skyscraper climber” and “pro-life Spider-Man” who has attempted various similar stunts in the past. “I climb skyscrapers to raise money for women in crisis pregnancies,” reads his Instagram bio. “Christ is king!”
In his statement, DesChamps informed viewers he was making the climb in order to raise money for homeless pregnant women, in particular one named Isabelle. “She is homeless and pregnant and needs help guys,” DesChamps said as sirens wailed in the background. “I guess they’re going to make me go through the top,” the climber said of his hopeful extraction.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) confirmed to Men's Journal that at 10:11 am Wednesday they received "reports of an individual scaling a building near the 200 block of Sands Avenue." At 11 a.m., local news station KTNV reported that multiple people had been detained outside of the Sphere on the ground level.
BREAKING UPDATE: Multiple people are detained by police near the Sphere after a man was able to climb to the top of the structure just moments ago. Developing story: https://t.co/vEuHx8ZYLh pic.twitter.com/pyNwJUrXCx
— KTNV | Channel 13 News Las Vegas (@KTNV) February 7, 2024
Police shut down Koval Lane, Sands Avenue, and the other streets surrounding the Sphere. "Please avoid the area due to emergency vehicles responding," authorities said in a statement, adding that drivers should expect further closures in the area.
Meanwhile, unbelievable footage of DesChamps’ risky climb began popping up across social media.
BREAKING! Someone is climbing the Sphere in Las Vegas.
— Victoria Saha (@VictoriaSaha) February 7, 2024
This is what our news room cameras are capturing. @FOX5Vegas pic.twitter.com/eEL8PwqUke
“They're going to have to put a rope around the Sphere because every drunk person in Las Vegas is now going to try and climb it,” wrote John Breech on X (formerly Twitter), alongside an extended clip showing DesChamps standing on top of the Sphere as wind whips around him
They're going to have to put a rope around the Sphere because every drunk person in Las Vegas is now going to try and climb it #Vegas #SuperBowl #Sphere (via @jus10walker) pic.twitter.com/aRafoPQ5kj
— John Breech (@johnbreech) February 7, 2024
At 11:30 a.m., the Sphere announced that DesChamps had been arrested. "We are grateful to the local authorities for their support in this matter,” a spokesperson for the Sphere told KNTV. “The individuals involved are currently in the custody of LVMPD."
The LVMPD confirmed to Men's Journal that DesChamps "has been taken into custody," but declined to comment further, citing that "this is an ongoing investigation."
In August 2021, DesChamps scaled Las Vegas’ Aria Hotel and Casino to protest Nevada’s COVID-19 safety precautions. He was arrested in May 2022 for climbing San Francisco’s SalesForce tower. In October 2023, he was arrested after ascending Chicago’s Accenture Tower, which holds the offices of the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest.
DesChamps is currently facing charges after he scaled the former Chase Tower in downtown Phoenix, AZ. Last week on Instagram, he told his followers his plea deal in that case had been revoked. “Worst case scenario, I will spend a couple months in jail,” DesChamps said.