We are getting breaking news into the newsroom. National Park Service is currently evacuating Liberty State Park, as you can see from some of these live pictures right there.

On the 4th of July, 2018, the Statue of Liberty is in the news, but not for the reason you'd expect.

Someone has actually climbed the statue and is now positioned near the base of Liberty's foot.

A female protester is scrambling around the base of Lady Liberty, more than 150 feet in the air.

She takes everyone, including the National Park Service, by surprise.

It's a vertical climb and there's not many footholds.

She got up there on her own, but she won't get down safely without help.

I'm retired Detective Sergeant Wally Zions, and you're listening to Season 4 of Breaking the Case,

a true crime podcast written and produced by the New York City Police Department and supported by the New York City Police Foundation.

In this episode, we go behind the scenes of a high angle rope rescue on the Statue of Liberty.

This is stories from the Emergency Service Unit.

Episode 2.

Liberating Lady Liberty, coming up after the break.

Liberty Island has been evacuated. I mean, this is a huge section, of course, of the harbor here in New York City, where the statue of Liberty sits.

Huge tourist area, especially when it's the 4th of July. So this is a big deal.

On July 4th, 2018, Liberty Island officials are expecting a holiday crowd of about 20,000 people.

Everything runs smoothly until about two hours before closing time.

It was pretty much right near the end of our tour.

That's Detective Brian Glacken, who works out of Emergency Service Unit Truck One in Lower Manhattan.

That day, he and Detective Chris Williams are assigned to Truck One's primary response car on the

8-4 shift.

Chris and I were basically waiting for the end of tour.

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