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Trial date set for Statue of Liberty climber

Trial date set for Statue of Liberty climber | iNFOnews.ca
FILE - In this July 5, 2018, file photo, Therese Okoumou leaves Federal court in New York, after appearing on charges related to her climbing the base of the Statue of Liberty on a Fourth of July. Okoumou appeared on Tuesday, Aug. 28, at federal court in New York, where a judge set a Nov. 5 trial date. She's charged with trespassing and other misdemeanors. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

NEW YORK – A protester who was arrested after climbing the base of the Statue of Liberty to protest America’s immigration policies says she wants to go to trial.

Therese Okoumou appeared at federal court in Manhattan Tuesday, where a judge set a Nov. 5 trial date. She’s charged with trespassing and other misdemeanours.

Okoumou, who’s a naturalized U.S. citizen from Congo, has said she climbed about 100 feet (30.48 metres) to the bottom of the statue’s robes on July Fourth to protest Republican President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Prosecutors have called it a dangerous stunt that forced an evacuation of thousands of visitors from Liberty Island.

Defence attorney Ron Kuby says Okoumou is eager to present her case to a jury. He calls the jury system “the conscience of the people.”

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Abbey Westbury

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