David Karnauch of Tennessee told CBS2 he walked across an overhead beam on the bridge and took the selfie while standing on a side railing.
College student David Karnauch took this selfie on an unauthorized section of the Brooklyn Bridge. (Credit: David Karnauch)
“I didn’t have any clue that NYC is ramping up security,” Karnauch, of Chattanooga, told CBS2 via Skype. “There was nobody there to stop me from climbing onto the bridge.”
In a statement, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counter-terrorism John Miller said Karnauch’s actions did not constitute a “security breach,” but were still ill-advised and forbidden.
“The person most endangered was the individual, whose goal seems to be bringing attention to himself,” Miller said in a statement to CBS2. “It was however, irresponsible and illegal. Had the officers patrolling the bridge arrived while he was there, he would have been arrested, as others have been.”