According to court papers filed by skydivers James Brady, Marko Markovich and Andrew Rossig, the three had stayed at the top of the One World Trade Center before parachuting off the building. The three had acknowledged making the jump on September 30 but submitted a not guilty plea to burglary and other felony charges, Crain's New York said in a report.
The authorities have said that the dangerous stunt had clearly broken laws that prohibit such jumps. On the other hand, the three claimed that the stunt was done carefully and discreetly, as it was done in the middle of the night by experienced skydivers over empty streets, USA Today reported.
The three's case garnered national attention, specifically from the loved ones of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks that had not only gripped New York, but the world as well. According to the relatives of the 9/11 attacks victims, the skydivers' jump had shed light on the security lapses at the trade center site. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, on the other hand, insisted that the site is well-secured but acknowledged that the site has been attractive to daredevils, which prompted it to make changes to security details recently.
Sally Regenhard and Jim Riches, whose sons were firefighters who had lost their lives in the attacks and had long been critics to the city of New York's response and preparedness of such events, said that the stunt the three accused did had not offended them.
In a brief for the presiding judge asking the latter to be lenient with the skydivers' case, Riches and Regenhard wrote, "They may have indeed performed a public service by exposing the lack of security, accountability and responsibility that still exists at the WTC site."
Brady, Markovich and Rossig were arrested last month shortly after a teenager allegedly climbed on top of the tower measuring 1,776 feet high.
