Judge Orders Statue Of Liberty Climber Confined To Home Until Sentencing

Therese Patricia Okoumou.

On Friday, Therese Patricia Okoumou, an immigrant rights activist who scaled the Statue of Liberty base last summer in protest of the Trump Administration's separation of immigrant families, appeared in a new bail hearing. The court appearance came on the heels of her arrest last week in Austin, Texas, for scaling another building in protest, an action that prosecutors say violated the terms of her bail. A magistrate judge ruled that he wouldn't be jailing Okoumou ahead of her March 19th sentencing, instead ordering that she be confined to her home with electronic monitoring.

On the Fourth of July, Okoumou, who lives in Staten Island, participated in a protest at the Statue of Liberty along with the activist group Rise and Resist. There, she and her fellow protesters unveiled a banner reading "Abolish ICE," which they placed at the statue's pedestal. Okoumou then climbed the statue's pedestal alone, remaining there for several hours as Liberty Island was evacuated and officials intervened. Okoumou, who immigrated from the Republic of Congo in 1994, railed against President Donald Trump at a press conference back in July, saying that "only a stupid, unintelligent coward and insecure maniac would rip a tender-aged child from its mother."

In December, a federal magistrate court found Okoumou guilty of trespassing, disorderly conduct, and interference with agency functions, three misdemeanors in all. She was released on bail until her March 19th. sentencing date.

Last week, Okoumou was arrested in Austin, Texas for climbing the Southwest Key building, also in protest of immigration policies (The nonprofit owns a string of shelters that house undocumented minors, and its headquarters is located in Austin). She spent roughly eight hours atop the building, and is said to have yelled "free the children!" before climbing down, then jumping off. She was charged with criminal trespassing, and was released on $15,000 bail from Travis County Jail.

Following her Austin protest, prosecutor Assistant US Attorney Brett Kalikow wrote a letter to a Manhattan federal magistrate judge, stating that Okoumou had violated the terms of her bail and that "there is a presumption that no condition or combination of conditions will assure that Okoumou will not pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community." Okoumou's legal team countered that "one protest episode over the past seven months of pre-trial release, taking place in a remote jurisdiction, resulting in the possibility of a B-Misdemeanor charge, does not establish that Ms. Okoumou is unlikely to comply with her release conditions until her March 19th sentencing."

Judge Gorenstein went with Okoumou to the Statue of Liberty earlier this week, so as “to better appreciate the risks or hazards created by defendant’s conduct.” In an order, Judge Gorenstein had also requested a ladder in order to survey "the surface of the area where the defendant was situated on July 4, 2018." (It does not appear the judge used it.)

Ahead of her Friday bail hearing, Okoumou invited her supporters to come out and rally in front of the Southern District Court of Manhattan. People began lining up outside the courthouse several hours before the hearing, holding up signs reading the likes of "Return the Children."

"That's how I do my activism; I climb things," Okomou said on Democracy Now! on Friday. "It's innate in me." Okoumou's attorney could not be immediately be reached for comment.