President Donald Trump says a woman who climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July to protest his immigration policy is a “clown.”
Therese Okoumou says she climbed the landmark as a spur-of-the-moment demonstration against policies that resulted in the separation of immigrant children from parents accused of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The naturalized U.S. citizen from Congo was escorted off the landmark by police Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor trespassing and disorderly conduct Thursday.
Trump said during a Montana campaign rally she should have been left alone until she decided to come down on her own. Trump says, “Let’s gets some nets, and let’s wait till she comes down.”
The National Park Service evacuated Liberty Island as a precaution.
