A protester who climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge in heavy fog could be jailed for two years and be fined more than $20,000 after he was charged by NSW Police.
The man appears to have scaled the structure to protest against the government of Iran and send a message to the US and its leaders.
Authorities were told about 6am on Sunday that a man had illegally climbed one of the arches.
The 33-year-old parked his car on the northern end of the bridge, blocking traffic, before commencing his climb, detectives say.
Because it was “so foggy” it was hard to see the man, a police spokeswoman told AAP, but Police Rescue managed to bring him down after 7am when he was arrested.
He was subsequently charged with damaging, disrupting or obstructing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, an offence which carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail and/or a $22,000 fine.
He was refused bail to appear in Central Local Court on Monday.
AAP understands the man previously attempted to scale the bridge a few years ago as a form of protest.
In a video posted to Twitter on Sunday, which appears to have been taken on top of the bridge, a man dressed in a yellow high-vis vest addresses US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and “all American people”.
Read the article by Julian Drape and Heather McNab in The Canberra Times.