Forum Post: What is going on at Citibank New York right now?
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 15, 2011, 2:30 p.m. EST by peacejam
(114)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution
They are getting arrested? For closing their accounts all at the same time? That can't be right. Can someone explain what happened inside the bank other than just getting in line to close their accounts?
Thanks!
Sure. Closing a bank account in the United States of America is a crime since today.
lmfao haha
lol wtf?
No joke. You can see it on livestream.
Seems like it, doesn't it? At least definitely no fighting or anything. So disappointing that the cops don't seem to mind those arrests.
Will Arianna Huffington be arrested for creating the "Move Your Money" website?
http://moveyourmoneyproject.org/
Will she be arrested for "inciting a bank run"?
That's awesome! And James Stewart in "The Corner Shop". I was just thinking about that movie - how did we get so far away from those mainstream ideas in just 50 years?
But no one will arrest her. They'll be smarter. They'll buy those banks out, if those banks get business.
I think the word you are thinking of is "Bail" them out, not "Buy" them out. I love the idea of creating a run on those particular banks. The fed has some very strict rules in place regarding capitalization requirements, so the question becomes, can enough money be removed from those banks to get the fed to step in and force their closure.
A worthy goal but I doubt it. My money says, if it were possible to destabilize those banks with deposits only, Obama would just offer them taxpayer dollars to keep them afloat. If they were "too big to fail" before, they are WAY to big to fail now.
I'm 100% behind the idea though.
I have no idea what happened in this specific circumstance....my understanding is that protesting a bank, or quietly closing your account is one thing. Openly inciting a bank run or a bank failure can be pretty sticky. My guess is that an open or admitted protest withdrawing funds en masse could be construed into inciting a run? Maybe some legal advice would clarify. Would love to see some legal guidelines on how to do this within the law here on the site.
I agree, a bank run is really not a great thing for anyone, and is just as bad as shuffling money around on wall st. A bank walk or crawl seems like a better idea to me.
great points guys. i've seen It's a Wonderful Life enough times to know bank runs can f* everyone up. we need to end the corruption of our government, and realize we have a vampiric relationship with banks right now that needs to be fixed. by all means take your funds out and put them in a credit union if you like, but these banks are behemoths, and we eventually will need to use the might of our government to enforce sanity in our banking system.
But name me the law that says its unlawful to incite a bank run. That, is what I don't get. I think this is total crap what is going on.
Last week I was about to open a new account and was searching a bank. Citibank had good offers. Luckily others had better... :)
haha. i hear credits unions are the rage right now. i'm not sure what they are or how they work. i'm guessing it's more of a way for people to securely deposit their money in a fund, but that money isn't involved in speculative and risky investing like our banking system?
Really not for advertising, but i would really know your opinion. http://www.netbank.hu/en/transparency
As a friend of people arrested inside the bank I can tell you they were not arrested for closing their accounts. Reportedly two people moved to take that action, the rest were conducting a peaceful and relatively non disruptive teach-in, with people sharing their personal stories. They were asked to leave by the bank personnel. When they refused to leave the police were called and the bank security guards locked the protesters inside the building until the police came to arrest them. When the police arrived, they did not warn the protesters to leave before arresting everyone inside. The woman outside trying to enter the bank was a protester who had previously been inside the bank, left when requested to, then tried to use her legal right as a bank customer to re-enter to close her account.
Those detained have been released after around 27 hours in custody, with violations, reportedly but I can't confirm, criminal trespassing.
wow thanks for the info Assert. that's the most thorough information i've heard. ok so "getting arrested for closing their accounts" is to some extent misinformation. if your story is accurate, i can't blame the police for this one. staging protests in a private building and refusing to leave is literally asking to be arrested.
It's Time to GET MONEY OUT of politics:
http://www.getmoneyout.com/
I couldn't agree with you more, www.getmoneyout.com
There it is: the demon of financial capitalism staring you right in the face.
This shows you are desperate, desperate, scraping the bottom of the barrel. The police have handled themselves in an outstanding, honorable fashion despite your provocations, your insults, your taunting, your videos, your abuses.
are you including me when you say "you?" i think you're kind of overgeneralizing people.
watch the video on you tube.
Ask anyone who protested in the 60's or in the 80's against nuclear weapons...their biggest goal was to get arrested. They'd stand outside missile silos and throw bird seed at the silo so birds would land on it and the silos would have to be reset after alarms went off. Their goal was to get arrested to bring attention to the issue and to temporarily disable the missiles. Arrests are a good thing as long as no one gets hurt.
agreed. sit down, sing and chant get arrested. now that we have cameras everywhere, you're peaceful protest carries even more weight.
Hell it used to be that you weren't a real activist if you'd never been arrested. It was a badge of honor.
Here's a video of people locked in Citibank and girl getting arrested outside, she's a customer.
http://www.twitvid.com/ZUYXO
wtf happened there? some guy in street clothes is allowed to drag a woman back into a building? send that d* to jail.
Yah, I only see people trying to go into the bank, I don't see any loud screaming or anything as they enter the bank. I just saw a group tyring to enter BOA with police guarding the doors.
There has to be more to the story. Were they going in their with signs? Shouting out slogans? Harrassing other customers into closing accounts? Refusing to obey orders of security?
Since it's saturday, the bank probably has limited hours. If too many are trying to close their accounts, the bank has no obligation to stay open past it's posted hours.
Yeah, probably that was the case. But anyhow, this is a good idea: find 30 guys in your locality, and pick a day of the week. Occupy the bank peacefully by keeping their employees busy with all the stupid questions of yours about their newest promotions, offers, whatever. Last month here in Hungary a bank branch had to close since they could not do their normal workday. Idea is no copyright, just use it. :)
I have a feeling they're being arrested for the normal reasons. But regardless, I think this is the BIGGEST news since the march over the BK bridge. This is excellent publicity for OWS.
i don't think we know enough about the incident to say it is the biggest news since the march. in fact, i think just the fact the movement has steadily gained momentum since it first happened is even bigger news, and the fact the Occupy theme has gone international.
this will only be excellent publicity for OWS if the details play out the right way. if people were peaceably in a public place, waiting to have their money taken out, and police shut them down, then yes, fine. but it they, for example, refused to leave their signs with threatening looking wooden poles on them outside while they closed their account, well i think that's reason to have people escorted. if the bank was closed at that hour, then yeah banking is done for the day and they have to leave. the MSM could easily argue these as points that this incident is a shame to the movement, and if they are accurate, i'd consider this more bad publicity than good.
Keep closing them and let the people who are not participating in any way know what theese banks are doing !!!!