DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A man clad in only boxer briefs and sneakers climbed atop a 110 Freeway sign in downtown Los Angeles, snarling traffic for hours Wednesday morning.The man scaled the sign near the Beaudry Avenue exit around 8 a.m. He hung protest posters off the ledge of the freeway sign.California Highway Patrol officers said they were not sure what the man was protesting, if anything. One sign read, "Fight pollution, not each other," and another read, "Give a hoot, don't pollute. "The southbound 110 Freeway lanes were closed as police officers and firefighters responded to the scene. Traffic was backed up for miles.Firefighters placed inflatable cushions underneath the man and extended ladders to him. Emergency personnel also went up to the freeway sign and tried to talk to the man to convince him to come down.The traffic snarl spread onto connecting freeways and surface streets, and workers in nearby buildings stopped to watch the events unfold. Cars passing on the other side of the freeway at times honked at the man and one even shouted to police: "Shoot him! "At around 10 a.m., he eventually came down - doing a back flip onto the yellow inflatable air cushions deployed by authorities across freeway lanes.He appeared unhurt as authorities quickly placed him in handcuffs. He was seen being placed into an ambulance.California Highway Patrol officials tweeted at about 10:30 a.m. all lanes are back open.<doc-sep>A shirtless man wearing boxer shorts shut down the southbound lanes of the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles for two hours Wednesday morning after he scaled an exit sign, unfurled political banners and began vaping, dancing and shouting from a bullhorn. The spectacle — an apparent publicity stunt executed by an aspiring rap artist — created a massive traffic jam that paralyzed much of downtown as police officers and firefighters scaled the sign in an attempt to remove the man. The episode finally ended when the husky sign climber performed a back flip off the structure and landed on a massive inflatable cushion placed on the freeway by firefighters. Advertisement Dephree has just done a backflip of the sign. pic.twitter.com/d5qh6qybQ6 — Benjamin Oreskes🦅 (@boreskes) June 27, 2018 The man, who was identified by police as 29-year-old Alexander Dunn, was booked on suspicion of delaying a police officer, trespassing on state property and failure to obey a regulatory sign. Dunn, who performs under the stage name Dephree, was being recorded throughout the incident, his producer told The Times. They planned to release the images in a music video Wednesday evening, said King Graint. The California Highway Patrol began receiving reports of a man on a traffic sign just after 8 a.m., said Officer Dion Conley. Callers reported the man was hanging banners, while others questioned whether he was suicidal. “Fight pollution not each other,” one of the banners read. Dephree is talking to the cops rn as LAfD sets up its ladders. pic.twitter.com/i5wRIUOGOS — Benjamin Oreskes🦅 (@boreskes) June 27, 2018 Dephree might be a hero to some, but they have now closed traffic on the 110s, it appears. pic.twitter.com/9Qk2uJiAwK — Benjamin Oreskes🦅 (@boreskes) June 27, 2018 He just said: “My name is Dephree and I love God.” pic.twitter.com/UXnMLjRkNE — Benjamin Oreskes🦅 (@boreskes) June 27, 2018 Advertisement Another sign stated: “Give a hoot, don’t pollute.” A third banner with graffiti-style writing simply had a name painted across it: Dephree. The man scaled the exit sign for southbound 6th Street, Wilshire Boulevard and downtown 4th Street offramps. All southbound lanes on the 110 freeway leading into downtown were closed by 9:30 a.m. Witnesses said the man was alternating between yelling about himself, love and God, and freestyle rapping. He also took breaks and would sit down and vape. Los Angeles firefighters placed two enormous inflatable mattresses beneath the freeway sign and extended fire ladders toward the structure as police closed the freeway at 2nd Street. CHP motorcycle officers scaled the exit sign in an apparent attempt to remove the man, but he climbed to the very top of the traffic sign and struck poses for bystanders and appeared to taunt authorities. Advertisement By 10 a.m., officers had apparently convinced the man to end his performance. He stood up facing the sign and did a backflip onto one of the cushions. Afterward, he appeared to be uninjured and was placed on a gurney in a seated position and removed from the scene. Among a number of bystanders who had gathered to watch the action was Jeiron Session, a freelance videographer from New York. He was driving by when he saw the man, nearly naked on the freeway sign. Incredulous, he stopped his car and began videotaping. Session noticed the man’s signs about pollution and said he was making some relevant arguments. “He’s getting his point across, getting attention,” Session said. Advertisement “Whatever it is, I’m with him.” The incident was the latest in a number of publicity stunts that have brought L.A. area freeways to a grinding halt — including a YouTubed episode in which hundreds of motorcyclists blocked the 10 Freeway in West Covina while a man proposed to his girlfriend. However, Wednesday’s sign antics could carry financial consequences for the performer, according to one expert. Former L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said that prosecutors could consider additional charges if they have evidence the stunt was done for commercial gain. “If you can establish that the act caused damages, then you seek to get that money back from the perpetrator,” Cooley said. Advertisement That was the case in 2010, when an Orange County band enraged thousands of motorists by blocking the 101 Freeway in Hollywood to perform an impromptu concert on top of a truck. A judge later ordered band members to pay Caltrans nearly $40,000 in restitution. Dunn’s producer seemed unconcerned by any potential backlash. “You ain’t poppin’ unless you got haters,” Graint said. Dunn, he said, wouldn’t care about people being stuck in traffic “because the bigger picture is saving the environment and rapping.” joseph.serna@latimes.com Advertisement Twitter: @JosephSerna UPDATES: 1:40 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Cooley and Graint. 12:45 p.m.: This article was updated with details on Dunn’s booking. Advertisement 10:05 a.m.: This article was updated with the removal of the man from the sign. 9:55 a.m.: This article was updated with more details on traffic closures. 9:40 a.m.: This article was updated with all southbound lanes being closed. This article was originally published at 9:25 a.m.<doc-sep>
UPDATE: 1:25 p.m. ET—More than an hour after a protester climbed a sign over the southbound lanes of the 110 freeway in Los Angeles Wednesday, officials still hadn't gotten the man down. The Los Angeles Fire Department tweeted an alert that said the 110 was shut down and there was a rescue attempt underway. A reporter at the scene tweeted that around 10 a.m. PST the man, identified as "Dephree," did a backflip off the sign. It took an hour of officials climbing the sign and attempting to corner Dephree for him to finally come down and for the highway to open back up. While on the sign he rapped, danced, vaped and talked about pollution, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Los Angeles Police Department did not immediately return Newsweek's request for comment. Original story: Traffic on the 110 freeway in Los Angeles came to a grinding halt Wednesday morning when a man climbed a sign over the highway. The protester had a sign with the name "Dephree" on it and another sign that said, "Fight pollution not each other." A reporter from the Los Angeles Times, Benjamin Oreskes, was at the scene tweeting video and photos of the incident. Police and fire officials were at the scene and had a large inflatable cushion under the sign on the southbound freeway in case the man fell. While he was standing on the sign, he was using a megaphone to talk about pollution. The man appeared to be in his underwear, with no shirt. He identified himself as a rapper and was freestyling. At one point, the police closed the entire southbound side of 110 but opened up one lane again shortly afterward, Oreskes tweeted. This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.