Vikings Fans Hang From Rafters, Banner in Stadium (Video)

Two Vikings fans somehow climbed out and were left hanging from a banner inside U.S. Bank Stadium during Week 17.

The Minnesota Vikings season has been one to forget. After a white-hot start, they’ve experienced a colossal collapse. Eliminated from the playoffs after being the last remaining undefeated team earlier in the year, they took on the Chicago Bears in Week 17 at U.S. Bank Stadium. And apparently two Vikings fans were interested in doing something other than just watching two non-playoff NFC North teams.

During the first half of the game as the Vikings were playing relatively well, two fans wearing a Brett Favre jersey somehow made his way through the rafters and rappelled down beside a giant DIVEST banner.

Though it was reported that the guy was hanging from the banner itself, the pictures of the event indicated that he was hanging from the banner. Upon further inspection, though, it appeared as if he was hanging beside the banner and using the DIVEST ad as a bit of a safety net, so to speak:

It was reported that there were two protesters from somewhere in the press box, but it appears to only be one in the pictures (we’ll still call it two to be consistent with reports). Because of the fans hanging there, though, all of the fans sitting in the seats below him were cleared from the area:

While the protester was just hanging there waving to people, the calvary was coming as police at U.S. Bank Stadium made their way up to apprehend him:

As all of this was still going on, the reason for it all came to light. They propelled down beside the DIVEST banner featuring the “#NODAPL” hashtag that they let down and hung from in reference to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Their purpose was to get the attention of U.S. Bank for funding the pipeline:

For whatever reason, the fact that one of the protesters (the one seen clearly in the picture) is wearing a Brett Favre Vikings jersey in all of this adds a necessary comedic element to it all. It just seems fitting for a stunt like this.

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With the police force going after the protesters, you have to imagine it’s all going to be short-lived. At the very least, though, these two protesters got the attention of NFL fans with this stunt. Whether or not they did so with U.S. Bank (their goal) remains to be seen.

Update

The plot thickens at U.S. Bank Stadium. Though the police were there to try and get the protester, their initial plans were apparently unsuccessful. They can be seen in the video above trying to figure out what their next move is. You know you’ve done protesting right—as far as hanging from banners and stadiums goes—when the police can’t figure out how to get you down.

Update No. 2

Late in the second half, the two protesters remained hanging from the rafters and the banner. They clearly enjoyed themselves, as evidenced by the flips to entertain the crowd. However, the police department made way to the Minneapolis Fire Department to try and get the protesters down. As of the fourth quarter, though, still to no avail.