Protesters Picket Main Street Bank of America

A coalition of students and local activists affiliated with the Occupy movement marched on the Main Street branch of Saturday, some closing their accounts and cancelling credit cards, in protest of what they call the bank’s environmentally and economically destructive policies.

This is 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 criticizing the bank for allegedly foreclosing on thousands of homes, funding the coal industry and conducting predatory lending practices.

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.

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.

Wesleying, the student-run campus blog, offers photos here.