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Statue of Liberty protester gets probation

A woman who climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty last July 4 to protest the separation of families at the Mexican border has been sentenced to five years' probation and 200 hours of community service

Therese Okoumou poses for pictures and rallies with supporters before her sentencing in New York, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Okoumou was convicted of trespassing and other offenses after she climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Therese Okoumou poses for pictures and rallies with supporters before her sentencing in New York, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Okoumou was convicted of trespassing and other offenses after she climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)Read moreSeth Wenig / AP

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty last July 4 to protest the separation of families at the Mexican border has been sentenced to five years' probation and 200 hours of community service.

Therese Okoumou entered the Manhattan federal courthouse on Tuesday with clear tape all over her face and a headband across her forehead scrawled with the phrase "I care!"

She removed the tape at the judge's insistence before her sentencing on charges of trespassing, interference with an agency's function and disorderly conduct.

The nearly four-hour demonstration forced an evacuation of 4,330 people from the statue grounds on one of its busiest days of the year.