Visitors evacuated from Statue of Liberty after anti-ICE protests
Independence Day visitors were evacuated from Liberty Island after a woman scaled the base of the Statue of Liberty.
National Park Service police and the New York City Police Department were called to coax the woman down which turned into an hours-long standoff.
She was named as immigration activist Therese Patricia Okoumou, 44.
The Statue of Liberty was closed after she climbed up the base of the monument to protest over the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It followed an unconnected protest earlier in the day by group Rise and Resist, which unfurled a banner calling for ICE to be abolished.
Rise and Resist said her actions were not part of its demonstration.
National Park Service spokesman Jerry Willis said about 4,500 visitors were evacuated from the island.
"We had two unusual events occur back-to-back so for the safety and security of our visitors, we decided to evacuate for the day," Willis said.
Okoumou managed to get to get to the top of Lady Liberty’s base after accessing the statue’s observation point open to the general public.
She was eventually escorted down safely by police officers in harnesses.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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