Protester climbs Statue of Liberty, prompting evacuation of the island

FAN Editor

A protester picked a patriotic location to demonstrate today by climbing the Statue of Liberty.

The female protester scaled the base of the statue and is taking up temporary residence by the statue’s right foot.

Liberty Island, where the statue is located, was evacuated and all visitors were taken off the island via ferry, according to a National Parks spokesperson.

The climbing protester is not the first to demonstrate there today. Earlier this afternoon, seven people were arrested for holding a banner that read “ABOLISH ICE” off the base below the statue, which is technically called Fort Hood.

Footage from nearby helicopters showed the woman sitting at the base of the statue and at points lying on her stomach, occasionally kicking her feet up behind her, ABC station WABC reports.

Police are also up on the base of the Statue of Liberty now, apparently trying to verbally engage with the protester. Footage from the scene shows that the officers are wearing harnesses and used ladders to climb up to the statue’s base.

The woman was seen holding a t-shirt displaying the words “Rise and Resist” and “Trump Care Makes Us Sick.”

Rise and Resist is the name of a protest group that arranged the banner display earlier Wednesday, 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.

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