Statue of Liberty climber scales Austin, Texas building
The woman who was convicted last year for scaling the Statue of Liberty climbed an Austin school for immigrant children on Wednesday, just weeks before her scheduled sentencing in New York. Therese Patricia Okoumou came down on her own after an eight-hour standoff and was taken to a hospital, CBS Austin reports.
Okoumou was protesting immigration detention and the separation of families, activists at the scene told CBS Austin. She hung a banner that said "Abolish ICE."
The Austin Police Department blocked the front of the Southwest Key Program's building while they tried to talk her down. She came down around 7:55 p.m. and was taken to a hospital to be evaluated. It's unclear if she will be charged.
Okoumou made national headlines when she climbed the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 2018. In December, she was convicted of misdemeanor charges. She is scheduled to be sentenced March 5.
Louis Moncivias, an Austin activist associated with Okoumou, told CBS Austin that she has also climbed the Eiffel Tower and a Border Patrol museum in El Paso in protest. He says she has been preparing this climb for two and a half weeks.
Southwest Key issued a statement saying their "unaccompanied minor programs, our teachers, our clinicians our case managers, our social workers our staff, begin to work immediately once kids come into our programs to reunite them with their families and sponsors here in the U.S."