Woman Climbs Statue of Liberty after ICE Protest

A woman who climbed up to the robes of the Statue of Liberty to protest against the Trump administration’s immigration policies was taken into custody after a standoff with police on the Fourth of July.
Helicopter footage showed her lounging around, waving her protest shirt — which also said “Trump Care Makes Us Sick” — and at one point, laying on her side on the ledge about 20-30 feet above the base.
Authorities had tried to convince the woman to come down but she refused to leave. Approximately three hours, she crossed the base of the statue, at times sitting in the folds of the statue’s dress and under Lady Liberty’s sandal. A law enforcement source close to the investigation and another source who knows the woman identified as Therese Patricia Okoumou.
The woman told investigators that she was protesting Trump’s zero-tolerance policy on immigration and separating families at the border, according to police sources.
The statue was gifted by France which was dedicated in 1886 and it became a welcoming symbol for immigrants and refugees coming to the U.S.
The Statue of Liberty was closed during the standoff on Wednesday afternoon. Television footage showed the woman traversing the base of the statue and sitting in the folds of the statue’s dress and under Lady Liberty’s sandal.
More than 10 people were arrested for the banner demonstration on Liberty Island, according to police sources.
Police moved swiftly with harness and ropes and grabbed her round the waist, holding her down until she appeared to allow a harness to be slung around her. At last she climbed down nearly eight meters to the monument’s observation point and was taken into custody.
> Shiuly Rina