Protester's climb shuts down Statue of Liberty on July 4

A protest against U.S. immigration policy forced the evacuation of the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July, with a group unfurling a banner from the pedestal and a woman holding police at bay for hours after she climbed the base and sat by the statue's robes.

In this image taken from video, people climb on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor Wednesday, July 4, 2018. (AP Photo)

The woman and at least a half-dozen demonstrators who displayed the banner were arrested, while the climb forced thousands of visitors to leave the iconic American symbol on the nation's birthday.

About 100 feet (30 meters) aboveground, the woman engaged in a four-hour standoff with police before two officers climbed up to the base and went over to her. With the dramatic scene unfolding on live television, she and the officers edged carefully around the statue toward a ladder, and she climbed down about 25 feet (8 meters) to the monument's observation point and was taken into custody.

The woman, Therese Okoumou, told police she was protesting the separation of immigrant children from parents who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, according to a federal official who was briefed on what happened but wasn't authorized to discuss it and spoke on the condition of anonymity. A message left at a possible phone number for Okoumou wasn't immediately returned.

**HFR WEDNESDAY, JULY 4**FILE--In this Jan. 21, 2018, file photo, the Statue of Liberty is shown in New York. A judge has ordered the U.S. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)

The climber was among about 40 demonstrators who earlier unfurled a banner calling for abolishing the federal government's chief immigration enforcement agency, said Jay W. Walker, an organizer with Rise and Resist, which arranged the demonstration.

Walker said the other demonstrators had no idea the woman would make the ascent, which wasn't part of the planned protest.

"We don't know whether she had this planned before she ever got to Liberty Island or whether it was a spur-of-the-moment decision," Walker said.

Regardless, he said he felt the publicity would help the group's cause.

A spokesman for the National Park Service, which runs the monument, saw it differently.

In this image made from video by PIX11, a person, center, leans against the robes of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, as one of the police officers climbed up on a ladder to stand on a ledge nearby talking the climber into descending in New York, Wednesday, July 4, 2018. (PIX11 via AP)

"I feel really sorry for those visitors today" who had to leave or couldn't come, spokesman Jerry Willis said. "People have the right to speak out. I don't think they have the right to co-opt the Statue of Liberty to do it."

The climber ascended from the observation point, Willis said. Visitors were forced to leave Liberty Island hours before its normal 6:15 p.m. closing time, he said.

Earlier and farther below, at least six people were taken into custody after unfurling a banner that read "Abolish I.C.E.," referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose officers arrest and deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, among other duties.

Willis said federal regulations prohibit hanging banners from the monument.

Rise and Resist opposes President Donald Trump's administration and advocates ending deportations and family separations at the border.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said the president's immigration policy is a step forward for public safety.

In this image made from television news video by PIX11, a person, right, lies under the right foot of New York's Statue of Liberty as police officers, left, work to convince the climber to descend, Wednesday, July 4, 2018. (PIX11 via AP)

Under Trump's zero-tolerance policy, the government has begun requiring border agents to arrest and prosecute anyone caught entering the country illegally. That resulted in more than 2,000 children being separated from their parents within six weeks this spring.

Under public pressure, Trump later halted his policy of taking children from their detained parents. A federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration late last month to reunite the more than 2,000 children with their parents in 30 days.

"Abolish ICE" has become a rallying cry at protests around the country and for some Democratic officeholders seeking to boost their progressive credentials. But Trump, a Republican, said on Twitter last week that abolishing ICE will "never happen!"

The Statue of Liberty has long been a welcoming symbol for immigrants and refugees coming to the U.S. It also has been a setting for protests and other actions that forced evacuations.

Last February, 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 was sentenced to time served after calling in a bomb threat that forced the evacuation of Liberty Island, sending 3,200 people on boats back to lower Manhattan and New Jersey.

In 2000, 12 people protesting the Navy's use of the Puerto Rican Island of Vieques for bombing exercises were arrested after a man climbed out on the spires of the statue's crown and attached flags and banners to it.

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Several thousand Georgians marked Orthodox Easter with a candlelight vigil outside Parliament on Saturday evening as daily protests continue against a proposed law that critics see as a threat to media freedom and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union.

The proposed bill would require media, non-governmental organizations and other nonprofits to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.

Protesters and the Georgian opposition denounce it as “the Russian law,” saying Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent journalists and those critical of the Kremlin.

Demonstrators crowded along a broad avenue in Tbilisi late Saturday, clutching Georgian and EU flags, as a small choir sang Easter songs and activists bustled about distributing food, including hand-painted eggs and traditional Easter cakes.

Unlike at mass rallies earlier in the week, which met with a heavy police response, the atmosphere was peaceful. Unarmed police officers stationed sparsely at the vigil's sidelines received festive foods along with the protesters.

Most Western churches observed Easter on April 9, but Orthodox Christians in Georgia, Russia and elsewhere follow a different calendar.

“It is the most extraordinary Easter I have ever witnessed. The feeling of solidarity is overwhelming, but we should not forget about the main issue,” activist Lika Chachua told The Associated Press, referring to the proposed legislation.

The legislature approved a second reading of the bill Wednesday. The third and final reading is expected later this month.

The proposal is nearly identical to a measure that the governing Georgian Dream party was pressured to withdraw last year after large street protests.

Georgian Dream argues the bill is necessary to stem what it deems as harmful foreign influence over the country’s political scene and to prevent unidentified foreign actors from trying to destabilize the country’s political scene.

But EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has described the parliament’s move as “a very concerning development” and warned that “final adoption of this legislation would negatively impact Georgia’s progress on its EU path.”

Russia-Georgia relations have been strained and turbulent since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the two fought a brief war in 2008 that ended with Georgia losing control over two Russia-friendly separatist regions. In the aftermath, Tbilisi severed diplomatic ties with Moscow, and the issue of the regions’ status remains a key irritant, even as relations have somewhat improved.

The opposition United National Movement accuses Georgian Dream, which was founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, of serving Moscow’s interests. The governing party vehemently denies that.

Demonstrators march during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" in the center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, May 3, 2024. The parliament of Georgia has cancelled its plenary session following massive protests against a proposed law that critics fear will stifle media freedom and endanger the country's bid for membership in the European Union. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators gather outside the Biltmore Hotel in Tbilisi where Asia Development Bank Annual set the 57th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors which is held to denounce the "Russian Law" and make their protest heard internationally in the center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, May 3, 2024. The parliament of Georgia has cancelled its plenary session following massive protests against a proposed law that critics fear will stifle media freedom and endanger the country's bid for membership in the European Union. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)