The Statue of Liberty, a powerful symbol of US freedom and long a beacon to immigrants, was shut down Wednesday on Independence Day as a woman refused to leave its base in a lengthy standoff with police.

New York police assisted U.S. Park Police in removing the woman from the monument.

Local media first reported that demonstrators opposed to President Donald Trump’s immigration policy protested there and that the woman was among the demonstrators.

But Rise and Resist NYC, which organized the protest, said the woman was not affiliated with the group.

At least seven people were arrested earlier for hanging a banner from the base of the statue that read “Abolish ICE,” referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency at the forefront of the immigration debate. 
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