Occupy the Banks for Housing Justice on April 27, 2013

IMG_3484_1Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters took the struggle for housing justice to the Mission neighborhood in San Francisco on April 27, 2013, with an Occupy the Banks for Housing Justice bank crawl.

The crowd visited the Bank of America branch near 29th and Mission Streets, the JP Morgan Chase branch at 26th and Mission Streets, the Bank of America branch at 23rd and Mission Streets, the US Bank branch at 22nd and Mission Streets, and the Wells Fargo branch at 22nd and Missions Streets.

At each branch, Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters delivered a letter to be faxed to bank executives. The group leafleted the Mission in Spanish and English.

Many thanks to the Brass Liberation Orchestra which provided festive music for the event and to Reverend Billy and the Stop Bank of America Gospel Choir (aka Stop Shopping Choir) visiting from New York City who joined up with us at the second Bank of America branch.

Occupy Wells Fargo Vigil to Stop Evictions on April 26, 2013

IMG_3343_1The Occupy Wells Fargo Vigil to Stop Evictions on April 26, 2013, took place at the Wells Fargo History Museum at 420 Montgomery Street in San Francisco.

Today, we got more pictures of Wells Fargo employees and their cronies. See if you know any of them and tell them not to cross our picket line for housing justice.

Wells Fargo apparently works with a firm called Shetler Security for most of its security guards. Some of them have been taking notes on our protest activities as well as photos and videos. Today, they called the police and you can see a video below of what transpired.

We continue to demand that Wells Fargo stop foreclosing on and evicting our neighbors with their illegal, predatory, or discriminatory loans.

We look forward to continuing the vigils this week and ongoing until Wells Fargo stops their illegal, predatory, or discriminatory foreclosures and evictions of folks like our neighbors Manuela Alvarez, Peter Fairfield and Linnea Sweet, and disabled senior Bernetta Adolph.

To find out more and RSVP for one of the vigil opportunities, see http://occupytheauctions.org/wordpress/?p=8570

Occupy Wells Fargo Vigil to Stop Evictions on April 24, 2013

The Occupy Wells Fargo Vigil to Stop Evictions on April 24, 2013, took place at the Wells Fargo History Museum at 420 Montgomery Street in San Francisco.

Today, we got lots of pictures of Wells Fargo employees and their cronies. See if you know any of them and tell them not to cross our picket line for housing justice.

We continue to demand that Wells Fargo stop foreclosing on and evicting our neighbors with their illegal, predatory, or discriminatory loans.

We look forward to continuing the vigils this week and ongoing until Wells Fargo stops their illegal, predatory, or discriminatory foreclosures and evictions of folks like our neighbors Manuela Alvarez, Peter Fairfield and Linnea Sweet, and disabled senior Bernetta Adolph.

To find out more and RSVP for one of the vigil opportunities, see http://occupytheauctions.org/wordpress/?p=8570

A23 Wells Fargo Shareholder Meeting Protests Draw Hundreds of Protestors, Demand Housing Justice

IMG_3112_1A protest at the Wells Fargo headquarters at 420 Montgomery Street in San Francisco took place on April 13, 2013, in coordination with a protest earlier the same day at the Wells Fargo Shareholder meeting held in Salt Lake City, Utah. These protests are a special edition of the Occupy Wells Fargo Vigil to Stop Evictions.

More than a dozen protestors from the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and other organizations infiltrated the shareholders meeting and told Wells Fargo executives what they thought of their practices regarding predatory, illegal, and discriminatory lending and related foreclosures and evictions. Maria Alvarez, whose family is facing eviction by Wells Fargo, got to tell Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf to his face that he is a liar, then Wells threw the protestors out of the shareholders meeting.

IMG_3134_1Meanwhile, in San Francisco, about one hundred protestors from the ACCE (San Francisco and Oakland), Occupy Bernal, Occupy Noe, and the Occupy the Auctions and Evictions campaign held a memorial service in front of the Wells Fargo Headquarters and History Museum at 420 Montgomery Street. A trumpeter named Elaine played taps and Archbishop Franzo King delighted participants with his saxophone stylings. Various spokespeople read out the names of those who have lost their home or their lives to foreclosures and evictions, spoke in solidarity with those protesting in Salt Lake City, and listed off the many families still struggling to save their homes from Wells Fargo. After each name or section, the crowd chanted repeatedly, “Housing Justice, Home Security!”. Finally, Kathy Lipscomb and Merrie Jo Musni delivered some calalilies to Wells Fargo to complete the memorial service.

Links: Media Coverage    Videos of Wells Fargo Protest in Salt Lake City    Videos of Wells Fargo Protest in San Francisco   Photos of Wells Fargo Protest    Videos of Union Bank Protest    Photos of Union Bank Protest

Media Coverage

ABC 4: http://www.abc4.com/content/news/slc/story/Protestors-travel-to-SLC-to-rally-at-Wells-Fargos/bxvrOQVRw0ySHLv5QpLKXA.cspx

Associated Press: http://www.ctpost.com/news/crime/article/Demonstrators-disrupt-Wells-Fargo-meeting-in-Utah-4456961.php

Charlotte Business Journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/bank_notes/2013/04/protesters-interrupt-wells-fargo.html

Deseret News: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/865578855/Protestors-target-Wells-Fargo-annual-meeting.html

Getty Images: http://www.google.com/hostednews/getty/article/ALeqM5gRHE2aisbbNKB1X2Aq31hpdgV86A?docId=167277289

Philadelphia Business Journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/jeff-blumenthal/2013/04/big-banks-met-with-protest-at-annual.html

Salt Lake Tribune: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/56197313-79/wells-fargo-meeting-bank.html.csp

San Francisco Bay Guardian: http://www.sfbg.com/print/politics/2013/04/23/wells-fargo-foreclosure-fighters-they%E2%80%99re-baaaack

San Francisco Business Times: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/04/protesters-hit-wells-fargo-annual.html?page=all

Videos of Wells Fargo Protest in Salt Lake City

Videos of Wells Fargo Protest in San Francisco

Photos of Wells Fargo Protest

Then, the group broke up with some people going on to protest an eviction by Union Bank at a branch nearby.

Videos of Union Bank Protest

Photos of Union Bank Protest

Occupy Wells Fargo Vigil to Stop Evictions on April 20, 2013

IMG_3089_1The Occupy Wells Fargo Vigil to Stop Evictions on April 20, 2013, was a double header — it took place at the Wells Fargo branches at 286 King Street and 490 Brannan Street in San Francisco. Wells Fargo called their corporate security and the police to the protests. Wells Fargo threatened us with a citizen’s arrest, presumably for trespassing, but courteous police officers detained us briefly while writing a police report and released us with a little receipt (no charges or citations).

IMG_3106_1We continue to demand that Wells Fargo stop foreclosing on and evicting our neighbors with their illegal, predatory, or discriminatory loans.

We look forward to continuing the vigils on an ongoing basis until Wells Fargo stops their illegal, predatory, or discriminatory foreclosures and evictions of folks like our neighbors Manuela Alvarez, Peter Fairfield and Linnea Sweet, and disabled senior Bernetta Adolph.

To find out more and RSVP for one of the vigil opportunities, see http://occupytheauctions.org/wordpress/?p=8570

Photos of takeover of Wells Fargo branch at 286 King Street:

Photos of takeover of Wells Fargo branch at 490 Brannan Street:

Occupy Wells Fargo Vigil to Stop Evictions on April 19, 2013

IMG_3051_1The Occupy Wells Fargo Vigil to Stop Evictions on April 19, 2013, took place at the Wells Fargo History Museum at 420 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. We continue to demand that Wells Fargo stop foreclosing on and evicting our neighbors with their illegal, predatory, or discriminatory loans.

We look forward to continuing the vigils this week and ongoing until Wells Fargo stops their illegal, predatory, or discriminatory foreclosures and evictions of folks like our neighbors Manuela Alvarez, Peter Fairfield and Linnea Sweet, and disabled senior Bernetta Adolph.

To find out more and RSVP for one of the vigil opportunities, see http://occupytheauctions.org/wordpress/?p=8570