Man with knife, garrote arrested at Trump Tower

Protesters demonstrate against US President-elect Donald Trump outside Trump Tower December 11, 2016, in New York. A man with a knife, garrote and fireworks was arrested trying to enter the building that is home to Trump. AFP 

NEW YORK, United States — A 19-year-old man has been charged after trying to enter the heavily protected New York skyscraper that is home to Donald Trump with a knife, garrote and fireworks, police said Tuesday.

Alexander Wang, who comes from the small community of Poughquag 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Manhattan, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of fireworks, a police spokesman said.

The Republican US president-elect has spent the majority of his time at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue since his shock victory last month over Democrat Hillary Clinton after a bitterly divisive election campaign.

It is there that Trump has been holding back-to-back meetings as he builds his incoming cabinet, and where aides and prospective nominees parade in and out.

It was not immediately clear if or where in the building Trump was at the time of the arrest. On Tuesday he made a brief appearance in the lobby with rap superstar Kanye West who came to visit.

The 58-story skyscraper serves as both headquarters of his conglomerate, The Trump Organization, and the president-elect’s New York home. Other companies lease space in the building and it also houses 263 private apartments.

Police have been deployed around the clock outside the Trump Tower since the November 8 election and visitors must submit to a bag scan before being admitted into the public lobby, which has turned into a tourist attraction.

In August, three months before the election, another US teenager was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespass after using suction cups to scale the outside of Trump Tower.

The city of New York is seeking up to $35 million from the federal government to cover the cost of protecting Trump until his January 20 inauguration.

The property tycoon-turned-incoming president has lived and worked for years at the midtown Manhattan Trump Tower on 5th Avenue, which is surrounded by luxury boutiques such as Gucci and Tiffany’s. CBB