[ad_1]
(NEW YORK) – An unrepentant protester who climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, in what prosecutors call a "dangerous waterfall," pleaded not guilty Thursday on charges of trespbading. and disorderly behavior.
Activists crammed into a Manhattan courtroom applauded when a federal magistrate released Therese Okoumou without bail after she spent the night behind bars. Okoumou responded by raising his fist and sending kisses to his followers.
Outside the court, the naturalized US citizen of Congo said that she climbed the protest point on the Zero Tolerance Administration's immigration policies. The separation of immigrant children from parents accused of crossing the US-Mexican border illegally.
"When they go down, we go to the highest, and I went as high as possible," Okoumou said, paraphrasing former first lady Michelle Obama. "No child belongs to a cage."
Okoumou, who wears her middle name, Patricia, wore a T-shirt on which was written "White Supremacy is Terrorism", which she had worn in court (19659006). Donald Trump, at a campaign rally in Montana, called him a "clown".
"You saw this clown yesterday on the Statue of Liberty, you see that the guys who went there, I would not have done it," said the Republican President on Thursday night, praising the bravery of the policemen who mounted the base of the statue and persuaded her to come down.
He added: "I would have said: nets, and wait for her to come down."
Okoumou, of Staten Island, "staged a dangerous blow that alarmed the public and set danger his own life and the life of the police (from the New York Police Department) who responded to the scene ". The attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement
that court documents also accused Okoumou of resisting arrest by refusing to leave his perch at the bottom of the statue's robes, at around 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground. Police were forced to climb the statue to shoot
If convicted, Okoumou, 44, would face six months in prison for each charge
The National Park Service has decided to evacuate more than 4,000 visitors from Liberty Wednesday, the island has been very cautious, said spokesman Jerry Willis. The park department also looked more closely at the statue to see if there was any damage, although that was unlikely, Willis said. The coppery skin is only two-sous thick, but "it's strong," he says.
"This statue has been out in the middle of New York Harbor for 130 years, with hurricanes and lightning and all that nature has thrown at it," he said. "She survived well enough."
The park service was reviewing the video security tape to try to determine how the woman was able to ascend, says Willis
. a pull-up. "
___
Associated with the press, writer Kiley Armstrong contributed to this report.
Source link
