The Statue of Liberty has stood as a symbol of freedom as well as a site for protests.
Just a few years ago, Americans were forced to evacuate the historic landmark on the nation’s birthday after a protest broke out against U.S. immigration policy.
Some of the protesters were even arrested.
The Associated Press (AP) reported in 2018 that a woman engaged in a four-hour standoff with police after she climbed the base of the monument and sat by the robes of the statue.
Two officers then climbed up and went over to her.
As the outlet explained, the woman and officers “edged carefully around the statue toward a ladder, and she climbed down about 25 feet (8 meters) to the monument’s observation point and was taken into custody.”
At least a half-dozen demonstrators who displayed a banner were also arrested, as AP reported.
NBC News posted a video of the incident on Twitter.
The woman was identified as Therese Patricia Okoumou, 44, of Staten Island.
Okoumou reportedly told police she was protesting the separation of immigrant children from parents who come across the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.
Check out the video below:
WATCH: Protester climbs base of Statue of Liberty; authorities evacuate Liberty Island. https://t.co/iEZSI9dSWF pic.twitter.com/NYZj4TA8yr
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 4, 2018
Jay W. Walker, an organizer with Rise and Resist, which was the organizer of the demonstration told AP the woman’s ascent was not a part of the protest.
“We don’t know whether she had this planned before she ever got to Liberty Island or whether it was a spur-of-the-moment decision,” Walker said.
A spokesman for the National Park Service, at the time, said they felt “really sorry for those visitors today” who had to leave or were not able to be there.
They added, “People have the right to speak out. I don’t think they have the right to co-opt the Statue of Liberty to do it.”
One year after the incident, Time published an interview with Okoumou where she discussed what was going through her mind that day.
“I remember thinking, ‘God, are you telling me to go on a mission to climb the Statue of Liberty?’ I’m very spiritual and I have a relationship with God, and I said if this is something you want me to do, give me a reason. And he or she said, it’s the Fourth of July, the biggest holiday in the U.S., Rise and Resist [a protest group formed in response to Trump’s election] is buying my ticket to go to Liberty Island, I’ve never been there before, and there are children in cages,” she said.
Okoumou continued, “Nobody knew. I didn’t tell [Rise and Resist] I was thinking of climbing the Statue of Liberty.”
She told the outlet she would not come down until “the Trump Administration releases all the children.”
Additionally, Okoumou commented on the consequences she faced as a result of her actions.
“I spent the night in jail. And the next day was very tedious because it took a long time to see a judge,” Okoumou said.
According to Time, she was also sentenced to 200 hours of community service and five years probation.
Since her climb on the statue, Okoumo has climbed the Eiffel Tower and was arrested for protesting at a school for immigrant children in Texas.
