Yesterday, at approximately 12:45 pm, a 3 x 20ft banner was hung on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty with “Refugees Welcome” emblazoned in large white letters on a bright red background.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” This message was nicely summed up yesterday with two simple words “Refugees Welcome”
Even though the sign was only up for around an hour, the banner garnered much attention by visitors to Liberty Island, generating a slew of social media posts (some of which you’ll find attached to the bottom of this post).
In a statement regarding the incident, the National Parks Service had this to say.
At approximately 12:50 PM this afternoon, a banner reading “Refugees Welcome” was unfurled atop the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. The banner, approximately 3 feet by 20 feet, was affixed by nylon rope to the wall of the public observation deck at the base of the Statue. Rangers, alerted to the presence of the banner, immediately made their way to the location and conducted an assessment of the banner and how it was attached to the monument. It was determined that the banner could be removed without damaging the pedestal and Rangers began the process of removing it. Affixing a banner to the national monument is strictly prohibited, and an investigation is underway by the United States Park Police to identify suspects.
In a statement to Curbed, the people behind the Alt Lady Liberty account on twitter said:
“The banner was hung today at about 12:45 PM. There were four people involved in hanging it. We have no group, but are just private citizens who feel that the principles that make America great are under attack. We wanted to send a reminder about the America we believe in.”
Here are just some of the posts made by observers:
A post shared by Mass Appeal (@massappeal) on
A post shared by Greg Rushton (@grush91) on
A post shared by Elephant Journal (@elephantjournal) on
Featured image source [grush91 & elephantjournal]