Statue of Liberty climber due in court after immigration protest

Therese Patricia Okoumou, 45, of Staten Island, was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and interference with governmental administration, the Wall Street Journal reported. She was being held by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Okoumou was scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate for an arraignment hearing, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan said.

On Wednesday, Okoumou climbed the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and began a three-hour standoff that led to the evacuation of the landmark on the Fourth of July holiday, celebrating U.S. independence.

An activist group called Rise and Resist said on Facebook that Okoumou was part of a Fourth of July protest at the base of the statue against immigration policy.

The protesters unfurled a banner that read "Abolish ICE," the acronym for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which has become a focus of criticism over U.S. President Donald Trump's policy of "zero tolerance" for illegal immigration.

Rise and Resist said it was working to get legal representation for Okoumou. About a half-dozen of Okoumou's fellow protesters gathered at the courthouse on Thursday in support.

"People are learning about 'Abolish ICE,' they're learning that there are other options," Martin Quinn, a 47-year-old Rise and Resist member, said. "That was her message and people heard it loud and clear."

Okoumou was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo before moving to New York, according to Jamie Bauer, another protester. She has been arrested while protesting at least once before, in 2017, and works as a personal trainer and physical therapist, the New York Daily News reported.

ICE, along with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Justice Department, has been involved in handling the Trump administration's shelved policy of separating some children from their parents when they cross illegally into the United States from Mexico.

Television footage on Wednesday showed two officers, outfitted in harnesses and ropes, slowly approaching a woman and grabbing her as she clung to the sloping side of the more-than-300-foot-high (91 meter) statue, moments after she tried unsuccessfully to scale Lady Liberty's robes.

Seven protesters were arrested on the island earlier in the day, the National Park Service said.

The incident forced authorities to evacuate Liberty Island on a sweltering holiday afternoon when thousands usually visit the statue, a symbol of American freedom that has stood in the New York Harbor since 1886.

The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, has become a worldwide symbol of American values. Inscribed on its base is a sonnet by Emma Lazarus, which includes the famous lines: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."