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LOS ANGELES — A man wearing only boxer briefs and tennis shoes snarled rush-hour traffic in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday after he climbed a busy freeway sign, hung protest posters, danced repeatedly and apparently mocked his would-be rescuers.

Reporters and passers-by shot videos of the man’s antics as he climbed around and on the freeway sign, eluding firefighters wearing harnesses and police officers trying to get him down.

The man, who identified himself as “Dephree,” did various dances and the strongman pose as traffic backed up for miles on State Route 110. He hung signs that read “Dephree,” ”Fight pollution, not each other” and “Give a hoot, don’t pollute.”

The southbound lanes of the freeway were closed as firefighters placed inflatables underneath the man and extended ladders to him. The traffic snarl spread onto connecting freeways and surface streets and workers in nearby buildings stopped to watch the events unfold.

Cars passing on the other side of the freeway at times honked at the man and one even shouted to police: “Shoot him!”

The standoff ended when the man eventually did a backflip off the freeway sign down to an inflatable below. He was unhurt and quickly arrested.