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Jennifer Peltz and Jake Pearson, Associated Press
Published Wednesday, July 4, 2018 5:11 PM EDT
Last updated on Thursday, July 5, 2018 8:13 AM EDT
NEW YORK – A demonstration against US immigration policy forced the evacuation of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, with a group deploying a banner on the pedestal and a woman holding police from afar for hours after climbing the base.
The woman and at least half a dozen protesters who sported the banner were arrested, while the climb forced thousands of visitors to leave the symbolic American symbol of the nation's birthday.
feet (30 meters) above the ground, the woman went into a four-hour clash with the police before two policemen climb to the base and head for her. With the dramatic scene taking place on television, she and the officers cautiously wandered around the statue towards a ladder, and she descended to about 8 meters from the observation point of the monument and was placed in police custody.
Therese Okoumou told police that she was protesting the separation of immigrant children from parents illegally crossing the US-Mexico border, according to a federal official informed of what happened but who did not Was not allowed to discuss it and spoke under cover of anonymity. . A message left at a possible phone number for Okoumou was not immediately returned.
The climber was part of about 40 protesters who were unfurling a banner calling for the abolition of the federal government's immigration agency, said Jay W. Walker, organizer with Rise and Resist, who organized the event.
Walker said the other protesters did not know that the woman would climb, which was not part of the planned protest.
"We do not know if she had this planned before she arrived at Liberty Island or that it was an imprudent decision," Walker said.
Regardless, he said that he thought advertising would help the cause of the group
The National Park Service, which manages the monument, saw it differently
"I am really sorry for these visitors today" who had to leave or who could not come, said spokesman Jerry Willis. "People have the right to express themselves, I do not think they have the right to to co-opt the Statue of Liberty to do it. "
The climber climbed from the observation point, Willis said The visitors were forced to leave Liberty Island a few hours before his normal time of 6:15 pm. and further, at least six people were detained after unfurling a banner reading "Aboli sh ICE ", in reference to Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the United States, whose agents arrest and expel immigrants Willis said the federal regulations prohibited banners hanging at the monument.
Rise and Resist opposes the administration of President Donald Trump and advocates the end of family expulsions and separations at the border
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the policy of President's immigration was a step forward for public safety.
According to Trump's zero tolerance policy, the government has begun to require border officials to illegally arrest and prosecute anyone who enters the country illegally. This has resulted in the separation of more than 2,000 children from their parents in the space of six weeks this spring.
Under public pressure, Trump subsequently terminated his policy of kidnapping the children of their detained parents. A federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration late last month to reunite more than 2,000 children with their parents in 30 days
"Abolir ICE" became a rallying cry during protests in the country and for some increase their progressive powers. But Trump, a Republican, said on Twitter last week that the abolition of ice will "never happen!"
The Statue of Liberty has long been a symbol of welcome for immigrants and refugees coming to the United States. other actions that forced evacuations.
Last February, someone hung a banner reading "Refugees Welcome" from the observation deck. The sign was disbadembled about an hour after its discovery
A year earlier, a man from West Virginia was sentenced in time after using a bomb that forced the Liberty Island evacuation, returning 3,200 people Manhattan and New Jersey
In 2000, 12 people demonstrating against the use of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques for bombing drills were arrested after a man climbed onto the arrows of the statue and attached flags and banners. 19659005] ——
Associate Michael Balsamo of the Associated Press contributed from Los Angeles.
