A grand jury has decided to dismiss criminal charges against Alain Robert, a practiced French stuntman known for climbing tall buildings, one of two men who scaled the 52-story New York Times building last week, a spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office said.

Alain Robert, the French “Spiderman,” climbed a New York skyscraper and unveiled a banner to protest against global inaction over global warming. Six hours later, another man, Renaldo Clarke, 32, a New Yorker, climbed the building the same day to raise awareness of malaria.

Before the jury’s decision, Alain Robert faced misdemeanour counts of reckless endangerment, trespassing and graffiti, as well as disorderly conduct counts. The grand jury said the prosecution could move ahead with a violation charge. Defense lawyer Daniel Arshack said his client testified for about an hour, telling grand jurors about his professional climbing background and the precautions he took to make sure no one was injured.

“Americans have a proud tradition of promoting the rights of individuals to express their views from the highest soapbox, and Mr. Robert has simply availed himself of that right,” his lawyer, Daniel Arshack was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Renaldo Clarke’s lawyer said he hoped the grand jury’s decision in Spiderman’s case would help his client, who is due back in court next month.