PROTESTER HAD NO PLACE TO PERCH

CLIMBER ARRESTED ONCE ON THE GROUND

Wayne Vorhies, who climbed to the top of a 761-foot television tower to dramatize the need for affordable housing, said yesterday the toughest part of the stunt was discovering there was no place to sit when he got to the top.

"It was painful," Vorhies said of the climb to the highest point in the District. "It didn't become frightening until I got to the top. The wind was blowing, the tower was swaying and there was nowhere to sit."

Vorhies, 27, and John Muirhead, 28, who also attempted the climb but turned back before reaching the top, were arrested and charged with unlawful entry, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum six-month jail sentence. The caper occupied police for more than eight hours as they attempted to persuade Vorhies to come down for his own safety.

But Vorhies, who unfurled a banner that read "Housing Now," managed to stay at the top for about 10 hours by strapping himself in place with a waist belt and six feet of rope. He said he came down about 2:15 a.m. because the discomfort of standing up had become unbearable.

The tower, located at the rear of the 4th Police District station at 6001 Georgia Ave. NW, is used by WFTY-TV (Channel 50) and for police radio transmissions.

The climbers, both staff members of the Community for Creative Non-Violence, were participating in a day of housing protests in Washington and about 60 other cities where demonstrators decried the lack of affordable housing. A total of 43 persons, most of whom briefly blocked the entrance to the Capitol, were arrested in Washington on misdemeanor charges.

Yesterday, Vorhies, who has done construction work on high-rise buildings, and Muirhead, who once did some house painting, held a news conference to explain why they volunteered to climb the tower.

Both men played down the dangers of their demonstration and dwelled instead on the issue of homelessness. Vorhies said he was more nervous facing television cameras yesterday than he was at the top of the tower.

"We hope some people as a result of this will have thought about the issue more deeply," said Muirhead, who has been a staff member of CCNV for nearly two years. Muirhead said while some may criticize the climb, the public needs to be reminded of the people who "live on the edge" because they do not have adequate housing.

Vorhies, who once studied to be a minister and stays in shape by running up to 14 miles a day, said he has always had trouble "walking by an old lady or a mentally ill person asleep on the street."

CCNV leader Mitch Snyder said yesterday about 25 of the group's members had discussed for some time the idea of climbing a District structure, including construction cranes at the Capitol, as a means of protest. The plan to climb the television tower was made several weeks ago, he said.

Snyder acknowledged that climbing a tower is a "dangerous thing to do" but said he "would not have dreamed" of trying to talk Vorhies down. "It is an absolute shame that people have to go to these lengths" to focus attention on housing issues, he said.

Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Washington Post and may not include subsequent corrections.