Daredevil Makes Harrowing Tightrope Walk Between Abandoned High Rise Buildings
A daredevil content creator gave a celebratory interview after completing a harrowing tightrope walk between two abandoned Los Angeles high rises. Ben Schneider, the 28-year-old YouTuber known as Reckless Ben, may have survived his walk unscathed, but it’s left him the target of law enforcement.
“The police are definitely after me, which is why it’s very risky for me to be doing this interview,” Schneider told ABC 7.
Schneider posted the footage of his walk to YouTube earlier this month, though it seems to have since been deleted. It shows him walking a tightrope between two skyscrapers at Oceanwide Plaza, which have collectively become known as “Graffiti Towers” due to the artwork that’s proliferated in the area.
“With great risk comes great reward,” Schneider told ABC of his feat. “When you get scared you start to shake, and then when you shake the line shakes, and then you fall off. And I didn’t want to fall, so you just have to calm your mind.”
Though he was equipped with a safety harness, Schenider didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks as he embarked on his death-defying walk. Inevitably, he crossed the wire in just over two minutes.
Schneider later explained to KTLA that he and his entourage gained access to the rooftop using a clever if eccentric ruse.
"We pretended we were a religious cult,” the daredevil explained, “and we got 20 people to all hold signs saying 'Jesus Saves,' and the signs were blocking the police's point of view so we just hopped the fence."
But even though Schneider’s plan worked masterfully, with the stunt quickly going viral and catapulting him to a new level of internet fame, the young creator still has to evade authorities. Police are reportedly investigating Schneider’s stunt, but it’s unclear at this time whether he’ll face any charges.
