Prosecutors seek to revoke bail of Statue of Liberty climber

A Manhattan federal magistrate on Tuesday scheduled a Friday bail revocation hearing for Statue of Liberty immigration protester Patricia Okoumou after she was arrested for trespass in Texas last week during another protest of the Trump administration’s family separation policies.

Okoumou, 45, of Staten Island, was convicted in December of trespass and other crimes by U.S. Magistrate Gabriel Gorenstein for scaling the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty last July Fourth and refusing to come down, leading to the evacuation of Liberty Island.

She faces up to 18 months in prison at her March 19 sentencing. But prosecutors on Tuesday asked Gorenstein to revoke her bail based on last week’s Texas arrest for scaling the headquarters of Southwest Key, a firm that houses detained immigrant children, and refusing to leave.

“Because there is probable cause to believe that Okoumou committed a federal, state, or local crime while on release, there is a presumption that no condition … will assure that Okoumou will not pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community,” prosecutors told Gorenstein.

Okoumou’s defense lawyers said she hasn’t been convicted of anything in Texas, and questioned the need to jail her immediately with sentencing on her Statue of Liberty protest just a few weeks away.

“There is no need to rush to punishment here,” lawyer Ron Kuby wrote the judge, contrasting the government’s haste to jail Okoumou with the drawn-out struggle over family separation.

“The Trump administration’s sense of urgency seems to apply exclusively to their desire to incarcerate Ms. Okoumou now, and not to reuniting children or investigating the conditions under which they are held,” he said.

Gorenstein last week said he wanted to pay a visit to Liberty Island before sentencing, and asked prosecutors to determine if he could use a ladder to scale the pedestal as Okoumou did. The government has suggested dates for the visit, but said the ladder idea would create safety risks.

Okoumou, in an Instagram post, asked supporters to show up at her bail hearing. Kuby said the arrest in Texas and the hearing will provide a preview of the dilemma the judge will face at sentencing — that Okoumou sees herself as acting out of principle, and has given no sign she’ll stop.

“It is clear from the outset that Patricia has expressed no remorse for her stunning act of protest, so she is already in a different category from 99 percent of defendants at sentencing, who either deny [the offense] or say they are sorry,” Kuby said.