Whilst shopping at my favorite little corner store at 16th and Mission, I saw out of the corner of my eye some people run by in the street. Then said people were suddenly awash in red and blue lights. And there was yelling on a bullhorn and big signs and more people. A protest against something or other had materialized in front of my eyes in a matter of seconds.
Strangely, the protesters converged on Wells Fargo holding a 5′x5′ sign that said, “No Police in Greece,” or something like that. I might have remembered more specifically what the sign said had any aspect of the protest- like, at all- made any sense.
After watching for a few minutes and listening to the guy with the bull horn yell (again, not exactly, but basically), “We’ll burn your face off,” I headed across the street to ask some questions. I started with a kid who was holding one side of the aforementioned giant sign.
Me: So what’s the deal?
Him: We’re protesting.
Me: Against what?
Him: Against a police state.
Me: glances around at the dozen or so police officers protecting the protesters and their right of free speech. Wow, it’s really nice of these police officers to protect you while you protest against them.
Him: blank stare.
Me: What’s this about Greece?
Him: It’s about the killing of Alexis Grigoropoulos. He was killed by police in Greece.
Me: Why Wells Fargo?
Him: Huh?
Me: Why are you protesting in front of Wells Fargo?
Him: We don’t like banks.
Me: This bank, or just all banks?
Him: All banks. We’re going to be stopping at a few others.
Me: Ok, that’s cool. So who organized the protest?
Him: Nobody.
Feeling even more confused than when I started talking to this kid, I moved up the street a little and questioned a police officer who was waiting dutifully on his motorcycle.
Me: So what’s the deal?
Police Guy: I don’t know, they’re protesting all over the place. Their last stop was New College. You know the one on Valencia Street?
Me: Yeah. What are they protesting against?
Police Guy: They’re mad at us police. We wouldn’t let them occupy some building earlier.
Me: So why are they protesting outside Wells Fargo?
Police Guy: I don’t know. Earlier they took a vote and everyone voted to just go drink at a bar, but the guy with the megaphone over there, he vetoed that. So they’re here.
I walked away thinking how much I love this ridiculous city.
More:
They don’t fuck around in Athens on Unburying the Lead.
Laser war in Athens on Danger Room.
It was a part of a larger protest that was nation-wide. They did them at the same time…just sadly sounds like the SF one was poorly organized.
Points of contention:
1. The police were not there to protect us. The police were there to protect property from us, and arrest us. Later that night the police put one of our group in the hospital with a kick to the face. another protester was run over by a motorcycle. I find it laughable that you would assume they were present to protect us. I mean, protect us from who?
2. Re: Wells Fargo. Its unfourtunate that the person you spoke to wasn’t more articulate about why we’re are against Wells Frago in particular. Here is an excerpt from a recent communique issued by a group which took action against that insitution:
“Wells Fargo, in its own quest for profit, finances GEO Group, a company which runs prisons across the planet. One such prison is the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in the tideflats of Tacoma. While the bankers count their money, the jailers in the detention center treat the people inside like subhumans. These people in cages are only trying to work, to feed themselves and their families and to create a better life for themselves. For this they are jailed and portrayed as the enemy. Immigrants are not responsbile for the collapse of the economy. Bankers are.”
source: http://tacomasds.org/node/892
Ironically, Wells Fargo is also one of the largest methods of private remittances–money sent home to family abroad by working immigrants. They benefit off of the cash transfers of the migrant community on one hand, and profit off of their incarceration with the other.
Also, overdraft fees are a blatant example of class warfare, the exloitation of those who have the least by those who have the most. In protesting Wells Fargo we give a voice to oppressed communities and break the perception of powerlessness imposed upon the proletariat by the holders of capital.
3. Regarding your converrsation with the fascist swine. what he doesn’t understand is that we have no leaders. we do not give or recieve orders, we are a non-heirachical, voluntary association in which all participants have an equal say. When we met up we had no pre-set agenda, everyone was able to make their own suggestion regarding what we should do. To a person like that swine who has probably never made an independant decision in his life, I could see how that would be incomprehensible.
Anyway, thank you for writing this blog, I hope my response has clarified some things. Information on the Anarchist movement is easily obtainable, all you have to do is read a little and it’ll make sense.
Cheers,
(A)
What a waste of energy. Don’t you have more important things to protest?
All banks seem to be pretty evil and I never know where to put my money. Are there any smaller SF banks run by good people who don’t finance evil? I hate the idea I’m putting my earnings from my NPO job into a bad bank.
Bank w/a credit union: patelco, golden state, mission credit union…