Investigation reveals how Vikings protesters got in with banner, climbing gear

Sunday’s game between the Vikings and Bears featured an unexpected show high above the field. Two protesters unfurled a banner and dangled from the rafters in what was a bizarre and probably dangerous protest.

Many were probably wondering how they pulled it off, and it was fairly simple. According to an investigation, per Ben Goessling of ESPN, the men had tickets to the game and simply hid the climbing equipment under their clothes. After all, it is Minnesota where temperatures require layers upon layers of clothing.

The management company of U.S. Bank Stadium, SMG, said in a statement that the men had rope, carabiners and the banner when they entered the game. They made it through security because there was "nothing visible in their possession that violated U.S. Bank Stadium policies and had nothing that prevented them from clearing the security screening upon entry."

Once they were in, the two men climbed a ridge truss on the east side of the stadium, which is where they laid out the Dakota Access Pipeline banner and hung next to it.

"The intruders gained unauthorized access to the ridge truss by scaling regulation standard physical barriers designed to prevent entry," SMG said in its statement. "We have taken immediate steps to implement design changes to prevent any future unauthorized access."