Statue of Liberty climber guilty of trespassing for immigration protest

[webfact]

Statue of Liberty climber guilty of trespassing for immigration protest

 

Therese Okoumou, Statue of Liberty climber, talks to media at the United States Courthouse in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., December 17, 2018. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A woman who climbed the Statue of Liberty's stone pedestal to protest U.S. immigration policy declared in federal court on Monday she would do it again to call attention to the plight of families separated at the border and was found guilty of trespassing.

 

Therese Patricia Okoumou, 44, was also convicted of interfering with governmental administration and disorderly conduct before a U.S. magistrate judge in New York City.

 

Each misdemeanor count carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail, according to Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York. Okoumou, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who the New York Daily News said became a U.S. citizen in 2016, remains free pending her sentencing on March 5, Biase said.

 

In a statement announcing the guilty verdict, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said Okoumou's actions "went well beyond peaceable protest."

 

"It was a crime that put people at grave risk," Berman said, calling her conduct "dangerous and reckless."

 

Okoumou was arrested on July 4 after she scaled the base of the statue and began a three-hour standoff with police that led to the evacuation of the landmark in the midst of the U.S. Independence Day holiday.

 

She and her lawyer later said her act of civil disobedience was primarily a demonstration against the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from parents who were caught crossing the U.S. border illegally.

 

Administration officials said the policy was needed to secure the border, but it was ended in June after images of separated youngsters held in cage-like detention facilities sparked a furor both at home and abroad.

 

Testifying in her own defence on Monday, Okoumou was asked by her attorney, Ron Kuby, whether she would repeat her protest under the same circumstances. She answered, "Yes."

 

"As long as our children are being placed in cages, my moral values call for me to do something about it," she said in court, according to Kuby and the Daily News account.

 

(Reporting by New York bureau staff; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-18

[Tug]

Someone who has been through the system good for you girl make your voice heard!

[alanrchase]

She should have tried the "No one was killed, no one was robbed...." defence.

[Burma Bill]

What a liberty!!

[Sir Dude]

Funny now these days that unless you are allergic or intolerant to a food or substance, not campaigning for some fringe subject, not openly far-left, trying your best to shock or offend as many people as possible in a bid to get attention, taking the general p!ss out of society's traditional values, actively rewriting or erasing/denying history, believing you are right because you are offended, indulging and encouraging everyone plus demanding everyone plays along with whoever has mental problems that should be in care or needs serious help etc. etc. etc., then you are an unfashionable racist with a bigoted disposition that needs to be flogged by the lefty self-appointed and self-righteous into silence...so much for the freedom of speech and tolerance in general. We are coming to a generational junction where something will happen and kick off so that this lost generation remembers the lessons of the past. Always like this and why history repeats itself. Luckily for me I have a condo in New Zealand...lol.   

Edited December 18, 2018 by Sir Dude
Typos

[sanemax]

7 hours ago, Tug said:

Someone who has been through the system good for you girl make your voice heard!

Would have been easier for her to send you an e-mail to tell you her opinion

[Chomper Higgot]

31 minutes ago, Sir Dude said:

Funny now these days that unless you are allergic or intolerant to a food or substance, not campaigning for some fringe subject, not openly far-left, trying your best to shock or offend as many people as possible in a bid to get attention, taking the general p!ss out of society's traditional values, actively rewriting or erasing/denying history, believing you are right because you are offended, indulging and encouraging everyone plus demanding everyone plays along with whoever has mental problems that should be in care or needs serious help etc. etc. etc., then you are an unfashionable racist with a bigoted disposition that needs to be flogged by the lefty self-appointed and self-righteous into silence...so much for the freedom of speech and tolerance in general. We are coming to a generational junction where something will happen and kick off so that this lost generation remembers the lessons of the past. Always like this and why history repeats itself. Luckily for me I have a condo in New Zealand...lol.   

I’m not sure what the Kiwis didn’t to deserve it, but enjoy your time in NZ.

[Sir Dude]

45 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I’m not sure what the Kiwis didn’t to deserve it, but enjoy your time in NZ.

lol...confused as always Chompy. At least you are consistent.

[sawadeeken]

I, as a natural born US Citizen........... Would not have violated 'Our Statue of Liberty' ....... For what ever reason.........

If this woman 'had a job' she would be busy at work instead of out demonstrating and rabel-rousing.......

[Credo]

1 hour ago, sawadeeken said:

I, as a natural born US Citizen........... Would not have violated 'Our Statue of Liberty' ....... For what ever reason.........

If this woman 'had a job' she would be busy at work instead of out demonstrating and rabel-rousing.......

Unless, of course, she was working and it was her day off.

[radiochaser]

On 12/18/2018 at 12:04 PM, sawadeeken said:

I, as a natural born US Citizen........... Would not have violated 'Our Statue of Liberty' ....... For what ever reason.........

If this woman 'had a job' she would be busy at work instead of out demonstrating and rabel-rousing.......

 

On 12/18/2018 at 1:15 PM, Credo said:

Unless, of course, she was working and it was her day off.

 

Or, her job may be that of protesting.  People actually do work as protesters in the U.S. of A.  

I once did a job interview for the job of protesting.  $15.00 an hour, back in 1988 or 1989 in California, USA.  You could work as many hours as you wanted.  Then receive a payroll check.   I did not think that it would bode well for me if I did work as a protester, as I had recently been hired by a federal government agency as a Federal Agent!

I met the son of one of my wife's friends.  He was employed as a protester recruiter.  He started out as a paid protester and worked his way up. 

 

If he is still working, then he hires protesters, arranges the protest in question at the moment, arranges transportation and lodging and food if necessary.  Then writes checks to pay the protesters. He works in Maryland, USA.
 

[roo860]

Funny now these days that unless you are allergic or intolerant to a food or substance, not campaigning for some fringe subject, not openly far-left, trying your best to shock or offend as many people as possible in a bid to get attention, taking the general p!ss out of society's traditional values, actively rewriting or erasing/denying history, believing you are right because you are offended, indulging and encouraging everyone plus demanding everyone plays along with whoever has mental problems that should be in care or needs serious help etc. etc. etc., then you are an unfashionable racist with a bigoted disposition that needs to be flogged by the lefty self-appointed and self-righteous into silence...so much for the freedom of speech and tolerance in general. We are coming to a generational junction where something will happen and kick off so that this lost generation remembers the lessons of the past. Always like this and why history repeats itself. Luckily for me I have a condo in New Zealand...lol.   

Well said![emoji106]

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