Woman Who Climbed Statue Of Liberty To Protest Trump Immigration Policies Found Guilty

Therese Patricia Okoumou, the woman who scaled the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July in protest over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, was found guilty on three federal charges on Monday after an emotional trial. Fox News reports that the Democratic Republic of Congo native could now face 18 months in prison for her political activism, which prosecutors called a “dangerous stunt.”

Okoumou climbed approximately 25 feet above the statue’s observation point on Independence Day 2018 in order to speak out about Trump’s immigration policy of separating parents from their children. She refused the climb down, forcing the National Park Service to shut down the tourist spot early. After a four-hour standoff, she was apprehended by NYPD officers.

The Staten Island resident says that she couldn’t live with the thought of children in cages, growing teary as she spoke about it in Federal Court.

“It would never happen in my country – we don’t treat children like political bait,” she said. “I just have had nightmares and night sweats.”

On Monday, Okoumou was convicted of trespassing and other misdemeanor charges.

“The act of climbing the base of the Statue of Liberty went well beyond peaceable protest, a right we certainly respect,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said.

“It was a crime that put people at grave risk.”

Still, Okoumou says that she believed her act of civil disobedience was necessary after seeing images of children in “cages” on the news.

“I wanted to send a strong statement that children do not belong in cages,” said Okoumou.

“I went as high as I could.”

Okoumou became emotional during the trial. Not over her own welfare, but over the idea that migrants are finding themselves in a sort of limbo upon trying to seek asylum in the United States. When she found out about Trump’s policy of separating families, which has resulted in nearly 2,000 children removed from their parents, she was distraught.

“I’m sorry that I’m crying,” Okoumou said. “I couldn’t live with it.”

When the activist was questioned by litigators about whether she would climb the statue again, she replied that she would as long as children are placed in cages.

Okoumou also participated in a protest by the activist group Rise and Resist prior to climbing the Statue of Liberty. The group hasn’t condemned her actions, though they say that they didn’t know about her plan to climb the monument.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on March 5.