1971: Veterans seize Statue of Liberty
Sixteen veterans took over the Statue of Liberty today to protest the Vietnam War. The protesters hid as the national monument closed to tourists and then barricaded the doors of the statue after they drove out the night watchman.
"When the veterans took over the Statue of Liberty Sunday night, they had vowed to maintain their occupation until New Year's Eve to protest continuation of the Vietnam war. But this morning, after receiving what they called a consensus of veterans' groups the world over, they issued a statement demanding setting of a withdrawal date," reported The Abilene Reporter-News on December 27, 1971.
NOTE: Two days later, when a federal judge ordered the group to leave the statue so it could reopen to the public, the veterans complied. "Demonstrators in New York left the Statue of Liberty in good shape, according to James Bateman, the statue's superintendent. Floors were cleaned and refuse placed in garbage cans," informed the News Journal on December 29, 1971. "The veterans left behind five $1 bills with a note explaining the money was to pay for some food and coffee they had taken from a refrigerator in an employees' cafeteria."
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