Occupy London banks action: In solidarity with Occupy Wall Street

Nov 17, 2011

Occupy London banks action: In solidarity with Occupy Wall Street

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The call-out for this Occupy London (Ontario) protest simply said -
"We are taking aim at the banks with this action. Meeting at Covent Market west side entrance @ 4pm, then move on to downtown banks to express our opposition to the predatory financial institutions and the economic system that holds down the working class."

We were joining Occupy Wall Street's day of action.

Around the same time, there also was a meditation circle here in London today -- which also was in solidarity with the occupation movement.

Here are some brief notes about our banks action -

Photos here were taken around the London towers for three banking corporations.  We had a brief rally inside the RBC office/branch building.  The first set of doors at the TD-Dominion tower (the "City Centre") were locked when we arrived. Protestors laughed at the staff on the other side of the glass.  On another side of the building, a staff member locked the doors when a few of us walked over there. But three of us were able to get in through another entrance -- which then was locked behind us as we left.  By that time, the march had arrived at the Scotiabank tower, which is called "One London Place". It's the tallest building in the city.

We also stopped at a BMO branch which wouldn't let us in, and another TD-Dominion branch down the street locked an entrance as we arrived.

Several police officers were tagging along throughout the protest.  The guy with the video camera recorded us the entire time.  The police also recorded us during another recent Occupy London march.

Our march passed by a vacant retail space where some of the salvaged items from the evicted occupation site were being made available. A few Occupy London activists already were in there when we arrived, and others went in as the march passed by.

There are more notes on individual photos in the set on Flickr.