Woman Detained for Climbing Statue of Liberty in 4th of July Protest

NYPD have detained a woman for scaling the base of the Statue of Liberty.

The woman, who has been identified as Therese Patricia Okoumou, climbed the base to settle at Liberty’s feet.

She held up a shirt that said “rise and resist” and “Trumpcare makes us sick” on each side to criticise Trump’s policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the US border.

According to the New York Post, Okoumou is a Congolese immigrant living in Staten Island. She was part of a protest on Liberty Island earlier that day in which ten people were arrested for holding a banner that said “abolish ICE”.

The earlier protest calling for the abolishment of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency saw ten people arrested. The group who organised it, Rise and Resist, said that they had no involvement Okoumou’s climbing of the statue.

Rise and Resist planned a banner drop today at the Statue of Liberty. This action did not include the climber on the statue. Our action was completed earlier. While it was not part of our action, our first priority and concern is for the safety of the climber.

— Rise and Resist (@riseandresistny) July 4, 2018

The statue was evacuated during Okoumou’s climbing, which led to a three-hour standoff with the NYPD Emergency Services Unit before police were able to safely lead her down the statue.

She is currently in federal custody.