A woman was spotted climbing the Statue of Liberty in New York City on Wednesday afternoon, prompting evacuation of Liberty Island, shortly after a group protested President Donald Trump's immigration policy by hanging an "Abolish ICE" sign from the base of the monument.
It was not immediately clear whether the statue climber and demonstrators were linked.
The woman seen scaling Lady Liberty made it up to her midsection, United States Park Police spokesman Sergeant Dave Somma told NBC 4. Authorities evacuated the island as a precaution.
BREAKING: A woman is trying to scale the Statue of Liberty. The island is being evacuated. https://t.co/iTgQAIFpxW
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) July 4, 2018
Park police arrested seven people with the group Rise and Resist NYC who hung a banner stating, "Abolish I.C.E." earlier on Wednesday. The group on its Facebook page said the action was aimed at Trump, and demanded that he "reunite families, halt deportations and end detention as a deterrent."
The seven people under arrest will face unlawful protest charges, Somma said.
Images from ABC7 Eyewitness News showed the climber lying down on the statue's base and sometimes moving and waving a t-shirt in the air. The reports of the climber began around 3 p.m., not long after the "Abolish ICE" protest was underway.
Rise and Resist denied that the woman was involved in their protest.
"The Climber on the Statue of Liberty has no connection to our #abolishice action earlier today," the group tweeted in the late afternoon.
However, authorities have not addressed the climber's identity or affiliation.
The group's protest follows legislation that Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin introduced last week aimed at abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Pocan had visited the southern U.S. border and pointed out "cruel, inhumane and un-American policies taking place at the border that are now a direct result of actions by Donald Trump."
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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