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occupywallstreet:

VIDEO 1: Bank of America REFUSES to let a group of #OWSers close their accounts - locks them out of the building and complains to the police (Santa Cruz, CA - 7 October 2011)

first off, i totally agree with the overall views of this movement….  that said, this is kind of belligerent.  a bank, like shopping malls, gas stations, or any other business- are open to the public but still very much private property.  it is illegal to protest on private property without the consent of property owners- there’s your law.  these people, even though i believe their motivations are righteous, went there with a purpose- to cause a commotion and make BOA look like a bunch of big ‘ol assholes by getting kicked out.  BOA had every right to kick them out.  If someone walked in with a big sign that said, “i eat aborted fetuses with ketchup.” they would have kicked them out… you know why- because they are disturbing other customers and causing a scene.  they weren’t going in peacefully to close down their accounts, they went in with signs and a taking video which obviously shows their intent to stir shit up.  i have been asked not to take pictures in a bank before (i was just checking my phone, mind you), it is a place with a lot of sensitive information, so i can easily imagine video cameras would set off red flags and piss the employees off.  oh and it’s also illegal to film on private property. you can film into private property from public property, but filming inside of private property without permission can bring felony charges.  

i know plenty of people who have closed their BOA accounts over the past few weeks with no incident.  things like this are upsetting to me because they are skating around the fact that there are laws in place that protect businesses.  while i may not agree with the businesses themselves, they still have rights.  

but in the end, it is pretty cool the police officers are on their side… probably because they are the 99%.

(via totes)