Therese Patricia Okoumou, get to know her name and well. Okoumou, 44, was the woman who scaled the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July. The Staten Island resident, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo stated that she climbed the statue to protest Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on immigration and the separation of families at the border.
Okoumou had a three hour stand off with the police before she was finally taken into custody Wednesday night. She was held in a federal detention center and her case is currently being handled by Southern District of New York Prosecutors.
After her release,Okoumou spoke out the courthouse, wearing a black shirt with white letters saying “White Supremacy is Terrorism”, and citing a quote that inspired her to climb the Statue of Liberty, by Michelle Obama. “Michelle Obama, our beloved first lady that I care so much about said,’When they go low, we go high.’ I went as high as I could.”
Okoumou was charged with trespassing as well as two other misdemeanors. While in court, she pleaded not guilty during her short hearing in a Staten Island court room before being released by the magistrate judge.Okoumou is being called our modern day SHERO!.
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