After the tank stopped, the man attempted to climb onto the front of the lead tank and briefly had an exchange with the tank commander. The man then stepped off the tank and faced it down, waving and even seemingly daring it to run him over.
Photographs and video footage captured at the time suggest that the tanks did not roll over the individual. Instead, the tanks maneuvered around him and proceeded. However, there are conflicting eyewitness accounts regarding what happened to the man after the tanks passed.
Some witnesses asserted that they observed the man being detained and taken away by plainclothes officers or military personnel. Others, including a British journalist named John Reed, claimed that they witnessed the man being shot during the confusion of the tanks maneuvering around him.
As of this response's most recent update in January 2023, there is still no definitive or universally accepted account of the man's eventual fate. The Chinese government has never officially confirmed or disclosed any details about what happened to the individual known as "Tank Man," and the incident remains shrouded in mystery and controversy.
