Woman who climbed Statue of Liberty in immigration protest found guilty

Magistrate judge Gabriel Gorenstein says Therese Patricia Okoumou’s political and moral motivations did not trump the law


Victoria Bekiempis in New York
Mon 17 Dec 2018 14.53 ESTFirst published on Mon 17 Dec 2018 14.33 EST

An activist has been found guilty of a series of federal crimes after she climbed on to the base of the Statue of Liberty this summer to protest against the US policy of separating migrant families and holding children in detention.

Magistrate judge Gabriel Gorenstein convicted Therese Patricia Okoumou, who goes by Patricia, on Monday afternoon after a one-day bench trial in New York, asserting that the protester’s political and moral motivations did not trump the law.


'Are they going to shoot me?': Statue of Liberty ​climber on her anti-Trump protest

Read more

Okoumou had grown teary on Monday as she told a judge in New York about how the treatment of children at the US-Mexico border prompted her to scale the statue in a high-profile protest on the Fourth of July this year.

“I wanted to send a strong statement that children do not belong in cages,” said Okoumou, on Monday morning at the start of her trial at the Manhattan federal court.

“I went as high as I could,” she told the court, echoing a reflection she made shortly after her episode of civil disobedience in the summer as she explained how she had wanted to climb all the way up the statue, but feared for her life.

Okoumou, a Congo-born naturalized US citizen who lives in Staten Island, faced charges of trespassing and interfering with government agency functions, as well as disorderly conduct, in relation to her climb. She pleaded not guilty.

She was subject to a bench trial, not a jury trial, after Gorenstein ruled there was no entitlement to a jury trial for petty offenses. The charges collectively carry punishment of up to 18 months behind bars.

Okoumou’s main concern – as it has been since her climb, when she had to be retrieved by law enforcement officers attached to ropes – is the children, she said.

Although an executive order last summer reversed the policy of separating children from their parents upon crossing the border unlawfully, the Trump administration reportedly continues to do so by various means, also detaining children who have crossed the border unaccompanied, in hopes of claiming asylum or joining relatives already in the US.


Death of Guatemalan migrant girl highlights hardline border policy

Read more

Several thousand migrant minors are being held at a growing detention camp near El Paso, Texas. Meanwhile, many children languish in deteriorating conditions on the Mexican side of the border.

And as Trump clamps down on asylum applications, many migrants find themselves in an administrative – and humanitarian – limbo.

Okoumou said she was distraught upon learning about the policy in April.

“I’m sorry that I’m crying,” an increasingly emotional Okoumou said in court, later explaining, “I couldn’t live with it.”

“It would never happen in my country – we don’t treat children like political bait,” she said. “I just have had nightmares and night sweats.”


'I must continue': Statue of Liberty climber still protesting despite facing prison

Read more

One of Okoumou’s lawyers, renowned civil rights litigator Ron Kuby, asked whether she believed “you contributed in any way with the reunification of children with their parents?”

Assistant US attorney Brett Kalikow objected to the question.

“Relevance?” Gorenstein asked.

“Well, none, really, your honor,” Kuby said, prompting chuckles from the gallery.

Kuby then asked Okoumou at the end of his questioning whether she would make the climb again.

“Unfortunately, as long as our children are placed in cages, my moral values cause me to do something about it,” Okoumou said.

“So, is it your testimony you would do the same thing again?” Kuby pressed.

“Yes,” Okoumou replied.

Kalikow did not ask Okoumou – who wore a cobalt dress with the words “Seeking Asylum is NOT a Crime” for her court appearance – any questions.


Religious leaders arrested at US border in pro-migration protest

Read more

Earlier in the day, opening statements foreshadowed the tenor of the trial – while prosecutors would focus on rules, Okoumou’s supporters would focus on conscience.

“She knew that what she was doing was wrong and illegal,” Kalikow said in his opening statement. “Whether one sympathizes with the defendant politically and morally is not at issue in this case.”

Kuby responded in his opening that the family separation policy “created in her an imperative to act”.

“She did so on America’s most important day on America’s most important symbol.”

Lawyer Michael Avenatti, who has joined Okoumou’s legal team, sat in the front row of the gallery.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...us-immigration