Address
267 Main Street
Middletown
CT
06457
United States
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Saturday, April 28, 2012
WESLEYAN STUDENTS, MIDDLETOWN ACTIVISTS RALLY AGAINST LOCAL BANK OF AMERICA BRANCH, CLOSE ACCOUNTS
Perform “People’s Foreclosure”, Picket Entry to Middletown Branch
Press contacts:
Daniel Plafker – dplafker@wesleyan.edu – 561 573 6602
Dan Fischer – dfischer@wesleyan.edu – 203 258 7862
Middletown, CT – A coalition of Wesleyan University students and local activists affiliated with the Occupy movement marched on the Main Street branch of Bank of America yesterday, some closing their accounts and cancelling credit cards, in protest of the Bank’s environmentally and economically destructive policies. The action occurred as part of a larger “Move Your Money” campaign on Wesleyan’s campus, encouraging students to withdraw their funds from big corporate banks and invest them with local community credit unions.
Students started their march from the steps of the University library, descending on the bank from campus while chanting and holding signs decrying the Bank’s record of foreclosing on thousands of homes, funding the coal industry, predatory lending practices and more. Activists taped the entry to the bank with yellow CAUTION tape and posted foreclosure notices on the doors and windows. Those attempting to close their accounts were initially refused entry and told by bank representatives to leave the property. Video of the incident can be found at bit.ly/BoASecurity.
A statement was read condemning the bank’s funding of mountaintop removal and “careless gambling of the health of the global economy” before students marched back to campus where representatives from local credit unions were present to help students open new accounts.
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