The woman who climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty and stayed there for hours on the Fourth of July has been charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and interference with government agency functions, federal prosecutors in New York said Thursday.
The woman, identified earlier as 44-year-old Staten Island resident Therese Okoumou, was arrested Wednesday after officers spent about three hours coaxing her from the statue. The incident prompted an evacuation of Liberty Island. National Park Service officials told The New York Times that the monument typically gets over 20,000 visitors each July 4.
“This incident caused disruption to thousands of visitors on one of the busiest days of the year at the State of Liberty,” U.S. Park police Maj. Pamela Smith said Thursday in a news release announcing the charges. “We are grateful that the matter was resolved with no one sustaining injuries or causing major damage to the monument.”
Okoumou was expected to appear Thursday in Manhattan federal court. Each of the charges she faces carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison.
Okoumou had been protesting U.S. immigration policy at the Statue of Liberty, according to The Associated Press. She initially arrived at Liberty Island with the nonprofit advocacy organization Rise and Resist, which held a protest calling for the reunion of immigrant children with their families.
The group said in a statement that Okoumou’s decision to climb the Statue of Liberty was made independent of the Rise and Resist protest.
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