According to the Daily News, at least 20 Occupy Wall Street protesters have been arrested this afternoon. A group of protesters marched to Citibank at 555 LaGuardia just after 11 a.m. this morning with NYPD shadowing them. They report that one protester's hands were bleeding as he was pulled into an NYPD van. [Updates Below]
Hundreds of protesters who had gone to Washington Square Park for a mid-day General Assembly came to the bank to support the arrested marchers when they heard the reports. "We're coming here in solidarity with them to protest what I am sure were their illegal arrests," Josh Wiles, 27, a teacher who lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant told the News. The demonstrators who weren't arrested there are now on their way uptown to Times Square for another General Assembly and the Occupation Party this evening.
Update 4:45 p.m.: The NYPD has announced that 24 people altogether were arrested at the Citibank incident earlier today. They were all charged with criminal trespass, while one was also charged with resisting arrest. Many of those protesters had gone to the bank to close their accounts.
Update 5:00 p.m.: Marchers are still walking slowly to Times Square mostly without incident. But according to witnesses, the NYPD just confiscated the press pass of an Italian journalist "with Italian TV, covering the march. Accused of failing to remain on sidewalk." Reporter Allison Kilkenny described an NYPD white shirt as having "ripped the press pass off Italian camerman's neck."
Update 5:20 p.m.: Below, you can see video of some of the protesters in the bank trying to close their accounts who are then arrested by police. That includes one woman who argues she is a customer, and allowed to be in the bank—and then she is picked up by a policeman and taken away.
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I had a $7 starbucks mocha latte with an OWS protestor ( an art history major , white , middle-class ) while he friended me on Facebook with his $3000 iMac Air computer .....
they're dis-enfranchised ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?.
.
Ann Elise McLaughlin
I was horrified when I saw this. And I still think forcing the woman from outside back inside was completely illegal and unjustified...but there is another video from inside that shows them protesting, albeit quietly, they were asked to leave and it was prior to the doors being locked becuase the young black man on the outside in the above video is inside in this video. So, now it gets twitchy and the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle of what OWS, NYPD, and Citibank say. I still closed my citibank accounts today and don't regret it for a minute. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
cardealerreviews
Look: You do not have to be 'violent' to get 911 called on you from a bank. Please take a look at the 2nd video on this page: http://tinyurl.com/5s5djzn
BofA policy is that you cannot be a customer and protester to frequent their bank. The two ladies in that video were cordial before they threatened to call 911.
Ronald Allan
jesus. the vast majority of you that have posted on this page are a bunch of uneducated morons, who attack others because they disagree with you. you have a set idea in your mind and nothing will sway you. citibank released a statement claiming they were being disruptive and when asked to leave they refused, customers or not, if you cause a disturbance a business has the right to ask you to leave, and when you refuse, that is called TRESPASSING. I agree we need change in the banking sector, but i also believe that these idiots were causing a scene, all you have to do is take a good look at the rest of the protestors, whom have been littering and crapping on private property to make a point. i dont know about any of you, but i have closed 3 bank accounts in my life and never have i been arrested for doing so, why? because i went about it in a rational and civil way. bunch of jackasses.
GregJG
It takes a righteous man or a perfect man to name some one an idiot or a jackass. If people would just realize you can live in the world but not be a part of it they will see what lies behind the fog.
I'm planning on closing my Citibank account as soon as I know that my direct deposit has been redirected. Frankly, these guys don't look like an unruly mob -- even when they announce that everyone's going to be arrested, they don't get all that panicked. Who knows what happened before, but if the Citibank branch closest to NYU can't figure out how to deal with a chunk of young protesters without calling the cops, well, they've just added another reason to my list of reasons why I'm happy to be switching.
Incidentally, this is my list of why I'm switching:
- Since 2008, they've closed my money market account that got 4% interest and replaced it with a low-interest savings account, started charging me a yearly fee on my credit card, canceled my rewards debit card, quadrupled the amount of money I have to keep in my account before I get free checking and raised the monthly fee to $20. I don't want to keep $6k in a low interest account just to avoid paying a bank fee.
- They lost my tax return check. It was easier to get proof that I'd deposited that check through the IRS than through Citibank. It took me a few tries to get anyone to talk to me about my missing check. They blamed me: if I'd printed out the ATM receipt, they would not have lost my check.
- They've saddled me with "non-Citibank" ATM fees at Citibank ATMs and then refused to refund my money.
- They hit my favorite barista with giant, unfair overdraft fees by conveniently "randomly" moving their monthly fee to the day of the month when she had the least money, forcing her checks to bounce.
- They took a big chunk in TARP money (which they apparently really needed), then handed out bonuses as usual and then didn't pay their taxes when they became solvent again. Instead, they opened new fancy branches around town, like that one on Union Square that takes up most of the ground floor where Virgin used to be. I can't imagine how much the rent on that space must be, but every time I pass it, I think about where they're spending their money.
- Their latest ad campaign included a few ads about spending money in ways that really only benefit your bank. The one I passed on a daily basis said "What's your 'I'll wear them forever' story?" with an image of a girl trying on shoes. Seriously Citibank? You're not cool. You're a bank. You're supposed to keep my money safe. Encouraging people to buy homes or save for college or even vacations? Sure. Encouraging people to buy fancy shoes that they'll pay 30+% interest on? Not so much.
.......
I've joined a local (on my block!) credit union and am using ING Direct for online bill pay and ATMs. Even though I pay all my bills online, it's been easy to transfer everything over. I just went through my account statement and saw what I'd paid in the last few months and changed the info on those sites. It's all online anyway. I've been a Citibank customer since August 1996. I'm happy to have them out of my life.
I believe that soon, the government will 'hire' a group of people to go in acting like protesters only to start a huge riot thus giving reason to shut the protests down for good or sway public opinion. This sounds like something our government would do. Imagine 50 or so people sent in to purposely fight the police. It less than 10 seconds it would be chaos.
the banks are shit scared...people are about to make a run on them...ha ha ha
falling321
And who do these silly people think they will be harming with their run on the banks? The rich? Of course not! They only people they will harm are their own credit records and the finances of their neighbors, friends, parents and siblings. So much fuss and so little will be accomplished other than harming those who may have actually sympathized with their movement.
How does closing a checking/savings account harm someone's credit, much less the credit and finances of everyone else they know? People still need a bank, they just don't have to be a patron of Citibank, Chase, BoA, etc. if they find those banks distasteful. I doubt that this movement will really make much of a dent in the large banks' overall profits or market share, although I'd love it if it did change their behavior in the future.
Why didn't anyone stand up to these ILLEGAL THUGS? It's been done, read on...
It's vital to remember that false arrest is a crime, just as much as aggravated assault; they are both felonies. It is the duty of the citizen to resist false arrest, even to the point of killing the arresting officer. Precedent set in the following court cases:Runyan v. State, 57 Ind. 80; Miller v. State, 74 Ind. 1Jones v. State, 26 Tex. App. I;Beaverts v. State, 4 Tex. App. 1 75;Skidmore v. State, 43 Tex. 93, 903State v. Robinson, 145 ME. 77, 72 ATL. 260 "Citizens may resist unlawful arrest to the point of taking an arresting officer's life if necessary." Plummer v. State, 136 Ind. 306. This premise was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case: John Bad Elk v. U.S., 177 U.S. 529. "One may come to the aid of another being unlawfully arrested, just as he may where one is being assaulted, molested, raped or kidnapped. Thus it is not an offense to liberate one from the unlawful custody of an officer, even though he may have submitted to such custody, without resistance." (Adams v. State, 121 Ga. 16, 48 S.E. 910).
someone needs to tell the cops this and make all aware of thier parel! for this is really a big thing I do not believe that most folks do not see what really is going on ! the gov. does want violance! the want to proclaim marshel law how ever you spell it! this nation is at a place in history that if we do not learnfrom the past we will repeat it ! I am not looking towards that!! none of us is ready for what is coming!!
randomtransplant
This is very important to remember - but the children who think a violation ticket is worth harming someone and preparing for a protracted court case they cannot afford to mount are the people most likely to buy into it.
MLK & Mandella knew their jail time was unjust, but they also knew it was worth the sacrifice.
randomtransplant
This video is going up on my social networking.
Not being allowed to get your money out of the bank & close an account is a shared fear.
Somebody needs a tumbler or something so everybody who closes an account in small, dispersed groups can scan written proof of the time and place in and post it online.
Its a simple act many millions of Americans can join once it builds momentum. And it has the potential to change the world.
m015094
So we're going to have many millions of people walking around with 10's or 100's of thousands of dollars in cash? That's sounds safe. I know - maybe we can put it in a vault and pay someone to watch it. What would we call this thing?
And if your reply is that these people only have a few hundred in their account, then my answer is: no, it does not have ANY potential to change the world.
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