AUSTIN, Texas — After nearly eight hours, the woman who climbed to the top of the Southwest Key building in protest of family separation at the border has surrendered.
- Woman climbs Southwest Key building
- Was up there for nearly eight hours
- Previously climbed Statue of Liberty in 2018
Activist Patricia Okoumou started her climb around 12 p.m. Wednesday.
Southwest Key is a nonprofit organization that operates shelter facilities for unaccompanied immigrant minors and immigrant youth.
The Austin Police Department received a call at 12:14 p.m. saying a woman was on the roof flying a banner. APD said approximately 70 officers were on the scene throughout the eight-hour event. Austin Firefighters used a cherry picker to bring negotiators to Okoumou to try to convince her to come down.
Okoumou was taken to the hospital for evaluation and was then charged with criminal trespassing at the Travis County Jail. She was held on a $15,000 bond.
She is also known for climbing the Statue of Liberty last summer. She was later found guilty of trespassing. Okoumou faces up to 18 months in federal prison, and is set to be sentenced March 5.
Chief Operating Officer Joella Brooks released a statement regarding the incident:
"It’s unfortunate that people still don’t understand the mission of Southwest Key Programs. For the last 30 years, Southwest Key Programs has been about taking care of children and their families in the juvenile justice system, unaccompanied minors as well as educating children across the country.
In our unaccompanied minor programs, our teachers, our clinicians our case managers, our social workers our staff, begin to work immediately once kids come into our programs to reunite them with their families and sponsors here in the U.S. Southwest Key will continue to drive towards its mission of opening doors to opportunity so that individuals can achieve their dreams."