While most of the country was cooking out, donning red, white and blue, and getting to blow stuff up in the name of America, a woman in New York City decided to spend the Fourth of July climbing the Statue of Liberty.
Authorities evacuated Liberty Island, where the statue rests in New York Harbor, on Wednesday after a woman who was part of a protest urging the abolition of the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency decided to climb nearly 25 feet onto the base of the statue.
A representative for The National Parks service told TheWrap the woman was eventually apprehended and is expected to appear before a federal court later on Wednesday.
See video below:
WATCH: Protester climbs base of Statue of Liberty, forces evacuations on Liberty Island https://t.co/vUbgzgSOPq pic.twitter.com/Ws6554R1og
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 4, 2018
The woman was part of the Rise and Resist demonstration, which earlier on Wednesday hung a banner on the statue that read “Abolish ICE,” organizer Martin Joseph Quinn told CNN.
“She climbed without our knowledge. It was not part of our action. We are deeply concerned for her safety,” Quinn told the outlet.
Rise and Resist planned a banner drop today at the Statue of Liberty. This action did not include the climber on the statue. Our action was completed earlier. While it was not part of our action, our first priority and concern is for the safety of the climber.
— Rise and Resist (@riseandresistny) July 4, 2018
Before the protestor decided to climb the statue, seven of the other demonstrators who helped hang the banner were arrested by federal authorities, seeing as the Statue of Liberty is federal jurisdiction.
The protest comes as people rally against the federal agency and polices from President Donald Trump’s administration that last month resulted in separating immigrant families arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border without documentation.
