In this 4th of July 2018, part of the video provided by the New York Police Department, members of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit work to safely remove Thérèse Okoumou, a protester who climbed on the Statue of Liberty and was charged with misdemeanor. A New York woman who climbed the stone pedestal of the Statue of Liberty to protest the US immigration policy pleads not guilty to trespbading, disorderly conduct and interference in government administration in its first court. Thursday appearance
Therese Patricia Okoumou, 44, was arrested on Wednesday after climbing onto the pedestal of the statue and began a three-hour clash with the police that led to the evacuation of the monument on July 4th.
After his brief trial on the three charges of misdemeanor, Magistrate Judge Ona Wang ordered Okoumou to be released from federal custody. 659006] History Continues Below Advertisement
Geoffrey Berman, the American attorney in Manhattan, called the one-hour protest "a dangerous waterfall" that endangered life.
"While we must respect the rights of the protest people, this right does not extend to breaking the law in a way that puts others at risk," said Berman in a statement.
A group of activists called Rise and Resist said on Facebook that Okoumou was part of a protest at the base of the statue against immigration policy.
Protesters unfurled a banner on which was written "Abolish ICE", the acronym for the US Immigration and Customs Agency. Established in 2003, the agency has become the object of criticism of the "zero tolerance" policy of US President Donald Trump with regard to illegal immigration.
About two dozen people, including some protesters from Okoumou, gathered in the public gallery. 19659004] "People learn about" Abolish ICE ", they learn that there are other options," said Martin Quinn, a 47-year-old member of Rise and Resist . "It was his message and people heard him loud and clear."
Okoumou was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo before moving to New York, according to Jamie Bauer, another protester. She was arrested while she was protesting at least once before, in 2017, and works as a personal trainer and physiotherapist, reports the New York Daily News
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ICE, with the US Customs and Border Protection and Justice Department of the United States, was involved in the policy of the United States. Trump administration which consists of separating some children from their parents when they cross illegally in the United States of Mexico
. Officers, equipped with harnesses and ropes, slowly approached a woman and caught her as she clung to the sloping flank of the 91-meter high statue. , moments after unsuccessfully trying to climb Lady Liberty's dresses.
Seven protesters were arrested on the island earlier in the day, said the National Park Service.
The incident forced the authorities to evacuate Liberty Island on a stifling afternoon where thousands of people usually visit the statue, symbol of American freedom that reigns in New York Harbor since 1886.
The Statue of Liberty, a gift of the French people to the people of the United States, become a global symbol of American values. On its base is inscribed a sonnet of Emma Lazarus, which includes the famous lines: "Give me your tired, your poor, your heaped mbades wishing to breathe freely."
The next hearing in the case of D & # 39; Okoumou is scheduled for August 3rd.
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