A woman who climbed the Statue of Liberty on Independence Day, leading to all tourists being evacuated, is now in police custody.
The woman climbed the pedestal of the statue to its base at about 3:30 p.m. EDT and spent the next three hours sitting on the base, leaning against the folds of the statue's robes or laying down on her stomach with her legs in the air beneath one of the statue's feet, live CBS video showed.
The area of the statue that the climber reached is about 150 feet from the base of the island.
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Police on ladders were trying to reach the woman at the statue's base, multiple live videos showed. The woman was seen taking off her shirt several times to show a message on it, but the message was not clear in the multiple live videos from the scene.
"They're kicking everybody out," people on the video could be heard saying while evacuating Liberty Island.
National Park Service officials said that more than 20,000 tourists typically visit the monument each July 4, according to the New York TImes.
An NYPD helicopter was on the scene, according to PIX11 live video.
National Park Service spokesman Jerry Willis told the Associated Press the climber was at the base of the statue beneath Lady Liberty's foot. Police used ladders to get to the top of the base to try to get the climber to come down.
By about 6:30 p.m. EDT, two NYPD officers reached the woman and attached a harness to her before carefully carefully guiding her down the statue, according to ABC News and multiple other live videos.
Earlier on Wednesday, the "Rise and Resist" protest group dropped a banner that read "Abolish ICE" from the base of the statue, according to ABC7.
The protest was against President Donald Trump administration's immigration policy and advocated ending deportations and family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border, the group said in a news release. The group said the climber is not affiliated with the earlier protest.
Several people hung the "Abolish ICE" banner and were arrested, according to multiple reports.
Willis said at least six people were taken into custody Wednesday, according to the AP. He says federal code of regulations prohibits hanging banners from the monument.
The park service had not issued any alerts for the statue on the "alerts and conditions" section of its website as of about 5 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.
Watch live video from multiple views on the island here: www.libertyellisfoundation.org/torchcam.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a division of the Department of Homeland Security. Its officers arrest and deport unauthorized immigrants in the United States.
The "Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World" was a gift of friendship from the people of Franche to the United States and is recognized as "a universal symbol of freedom and democracy," according to the National Park Service.
The statue was dedicated on Oct. 28, 1886 and was designated a national monument in 1924.
The Statue of Liberty, from pedestal foundation to the tip of the torch is 305 feet, 6 inches tall. Lady Liberty herself is 111 feet, 6 inches tall, according to the Statue of Liberty Foundation.
The statue weighs 225 tons. The flame in her torch is covered with thin sheets of 24 karat gold.
There are seven rays in Lady Liberty's crown, representing the seven continents.
A tablet held in Lady Liberty's left hand is inscribed with the date July IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776).
At Lady Liberty's feet lie the broken shackles of oppression and tyranny.
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