Seven others were arrested earlier on Wednesday for dropping a banner there. A 44-year-old protester picked a patriotic location this Independence Day: the Statue of Liberty. Therese Patricia Okoumou, of Staten Island, was arrested after scaling the base of the statue and taking up temporary residence on Lady Liberty's right foot. Okoumou is expected to appear in Manhattan Federal Court on Thursday and may face misdemeanor charges including trespassing, disorderly conduct and violating national park regulations, police said. Liberty Island, where the statue is located, was evacuated and all visitors were taken off the island via ferry, a National Parks spokesperson said. Police were seen on the base of the Statue of Liberty, apparently trying to verbally engage with Okoumou before physically apprehending her. Footage from the scene showed the officers wearing harnesses and using ladders to scale the statue's base. Footage from helicopters showed her sitting at the base of the statue, occasionally lying on her stomach and kicking her feet up behind her, ABC station WABC reported. Okoumou was seen holding a t-shirt displaying the words "Rise and Resist" and "Trump Care Makes Us Sick." She wasn't the only protester arrested at the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday. Earlier that afternoon, seven people were apprehended for holding a banner that read "ABOLISH ICE" off the base below the statue, which is technically called Fort Hood. Rise and Resist is the name of a protest group that arranged the banner display, and they tweeted that the climber "has no connection to our #abolishice action earlier today." "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," they wrote in another tweet.<doc-sep>“We started engaging in a dialogue of why she was up there,” said ESU cop Brian Glacken, one of two officers who ascended the ladder. “She was basically up there about the children in Texas. At first she wasn’t friendly with us, but we took our time to get a dialogue with her, to get her to trust us. That took a while.”<doc-sep>New York cops with ropes and ladders scaled up a portion of the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday for a dramatic July 4th capture of a female protester who hoisted herself up the robes of the statue to call attention on U.S. treatment of migrant families. The Statue of Liberty was closed while police tried to talk the woman down. Television footage showed the woman traversing the base of the statue and sitting in the folds of the statue's dress and under Lady Liberty's sandal. Earlier in the day, seven protesters unfurled a banner reading "Abolish I.C.E." at the statue, prompting officials to close the national monument to tourists. Jerry Willis, a spokesman with the National Park Service, told USA TODAY that the climber was still sitting on the base of the statue and talking to police as of the early evening Wednesday. She was taken into custody with no apparent injuries after about a four-hour standoff. The Associated Press, citing an unnamed federal official, said the woman told police she was protesting the separation of immigrant children from parents who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. Willis said the national monument was closed Wednesday out of "an abundance of caution" after the events. As of 4:30 p.m., tourists were being loaded on boats off the island and no new boats were headed for the island, he said. "We've had two unusual events occur back-to-back," Willis told WABC News in New York. "So for the safety and security of our visitors, we decided to evacuate for the day . . . It's our busiest week of the year, historically. The island at this time of the day is mostly near capacity, at 4,000 to 4,500 people. All boats have been tasked with moving people off the island. Given the heat of the day, the visitors complied with no issues." The activist group behind the banner, Rise and Resist, tweeted that the climber wasn’t connected to its demonstration and expressed concern for the climber’s safety. The New York-based group opposes President Donald Trump’s administration and advocates ending deportations and family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border. Opinion:Abolish ICE, transfer critical functions: Rep. Mark Pocan June 27:ICE on ice? Move to abolish ICE, at center of storm in immigration battle, has a long way to go The seven protesters received summonses to appear in federal court, Willis said. Federal code of regulations prohibits hanging banners from the monument, Willis told The Associated Press. Rise and Resist said in a release that they hung the banner to protest U.S. immigration policy. In a tweet the group said they oppose the Trump administration and advocate ending deportations as well as family separations at the border. ICE stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security. Among other duties, its officers arrest and deport unauthorized immigrants inside the U.S. The protest group in Wednesday's incident said that the woman who climbed the statue took part in unfurling a banner at the statue’s pedestal, calling for abolishing the federal government’s chief immigration enforcement agency. But the group says no one else was aware she would climb the base. Protests and evacuations at the Statue of Liberty are rare. In February 2017, someone hung a banner reading “Refugees Welcome” from the observation deck. The sign was taken down about an hour after being discovered. A year earlier, a West Virginia man with psychological problems was sentenced to time served after calling in a bomb threat. His call forced the evacuation of Liberty Island, sending 3,200 people on boats back to Lower Manhattan and New Jersey. The statue, a gift from France, was dedicated in 1886. It became a welcoming symbol for immigrants and refugees coming to the U.S. Contributing: The Associated Press<doc-sep>"At first she wasn't friendly with us but we took our time to basically get a dialogue with her... when we got her and she couldn't go any further I think she realised that her time was up up there."<doc-sep>
EMBED >More News Videos See the moment the NYPD apprehended the Statue of Liberty climber. T-shirt held by Statue of Liberty climber says 'Rise & Resist' & “Trump Care Makes Us Sick' https://t.co/Hkv9aUSw0U (📷s: @miranda_mor1) pic.twitter.com/ECq9XKHAoJ — Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) July 4, 2018 NEW YORK (WABC) -- After more than two hours, police apprehended a woman who climbed the Statue of Liberty.U.S. Parks Police evacuated Liberty Island after the woman, identified as Therese Patricia Okoumou, 44 of Staten Island, climbed to the base of the statue.Reports of a person scaling the statue started came in around 3 p.m. Wednesday, shortly after a protest group calling itself Rise and Resist dropped a banner that read "Abolish ICE" from the base of the statue.Officers responded to the scene with a helicopter and eventually moved their way up the statue near where Okoumou was located. At first, she put up a struggle with police officers.Okoumou moved around occasionally and waved a t-shirt at times. At other times she was seen lying on her stomach and kicking her feet up behind her. She was holding a t-shirt that says 'Rise and Resist' and 'Trump Care Makes Us Sick. 'Officers engaged in conversation with Okoumou to try to talk her down.NYPD Detective Brian Glacken said she was talking about the children in Texas. At first, he says Okoumou was not friendly with them, but they got a dialogue going with her so she could trust the officers. "The turning point was once we could safely go up. You know, I explained to her that we want you to come down that would be the best way. I think the turning point was we had a good rapport with her. And when we got her she couldn't go any further and I think she realized that her time was up up there," said Detective Glacken.During the time of the standoff, visitors were taken off the island via ferry. "We've had two unusual events occur back-to-back," National Park Service spokesman Jerry Willis told Eyewitness News. "So for the safety and security of our visitors, we decided to evacuate for the day. ""It's our busiest week of the year, historically," Willis continued. "The island at this time of the day is mostly near capacity, at 4,000 to 4,500 people. All boats have been tasked with moving people off the island. We have an evacuation plan. Given the heat of the day, the visitors complied with no issues. "Okoumou will appear in Manhattan Federal Court on Thursday.She is expected to be charged with national park regulations or public use limit; trespassing; disorderly conduct, and interfering with government functions. All are federal misdemeanors.Rise and Resist released a statement Wedesday night, saying in part,----------