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As the hours passed, NBC4 New York showed police negotiating with the woman and very slowly inching their way toward her.
The network then cut away for a few minutes only to return showing the officers seizing the protestor -- only a few hours before the Macy's 4th of July fireworks show was to begin.
"She is telling police that she will not come down until all of the children have been released," News4 New York's Brian Thompson reported around 6 p.m., referring to the 2,000 or so youngsters detained in recent border enforcement actions.
"They're trying to keep this woman down so she doesn't make any rash moves," Jerry Willis of the National Park Service told the station's anchors. "Their goal is to not end this as much quickly as safely for those involved.
"They'll be as slow as they need to be to ensure that everyone is safe."
At 6:30 p.m., the officers made their final move, cornering the woman under Lady Liberty's heel.
Federal authorities said they've identified the New York woman and linked her to a protest group calling itself "Rise and Resist," which dropped a banner that said "Abolish ICE" from a ledge below where she'd climbed.
However, federal authorities said she acted independently.
Seven protestors had been taken into custody just after 2 p.m. when police were alerted to the woman free-climbing Lady Liberty's base -- 25 or so feet above the walkway -- with a "Rise and Resist" t-shirt.
Federal authorities said she "went rogue," according to Thompson.
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Three NYPD emergency service units and a harbor unit were among the responders.
Meanwhile, a ferry shuttled tourists off the island.
Some told reporters they were upset that their vacations were ruined. Others said they understood their roles as citizens to cooperate with authorities who evacuated Liberty Island.
In May 1980, an experienced mountain climber and a novice used equipment to climb the statue's base while an associate distributed fliers protesting the imprisonment of a convicted murderer in California.
SEE: Edwin Drummond and Steven Rutherford climb the Statue of Liberty in 1980
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