2010-05-17 Protesters Take Over Banks, K St.

2010-05-17 Andy Kroll Mother Jones \economic disparity/US\K Street\Podesta Group\Service Employees International Union\National People's Action\JPMorgan Chase\Bank of America\Corrections Corporation of America\The Other 98 Percent\Washington, DC\protests http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/05/protesters-banks-washington-dc-k-street-seiu-npa-podesta-group-elmendorf-strategies Protesters Take Over Banks, K St. Protesters Take Over Banks, K St.  It didn't take long for the handful of irritated Bank of America employees to abandon their desks and make for the doors. Their office, a small Bank of America branch on Massachusetts Avenue, had been more or less taken over by a boisterous rally of 75 or so protesters from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the organizer behind two days' worth of Wall Street-themed protests in or near Washington. Yesterday, many of the same demonstrators, brought to DC from all over the country by SEIU and National People's Action (NPA), a community organizing network, protested outside the houses of two financial lobbyists—one from Bank of America, another for JPMorgan Chase. The demonstrators railed against bailouts and demanded that the two lobbyists tell their respective CEOs to meet with SEIU and NPA's leaders.

Today, the demonstrators bounced between various office buildings and banks in downtown DC, most of the locations linked to Wall Street, lobbying, or big banks. The day began in the building that houses the Corrections Corporation of America, a private prison company that's received hundreds of millions of dollars of government contracts. After that came the Bank of America takeover, then a second, ad hoc protest inside a nearby Citibank office, to the dismay of the tellers and bankers inside.

Standing outside the Bank of America office in the morning rain was DC resident James Crowder. A Bank of America customer, Crowder cheered on the purple-clad protesters, baring a wide grin short a few teeth. "I totally agree with this here," Crowder said. "They need to do this to all the banks."

&ldquo;It didn't take long for the handful of irritated Bank of America employees to abandon their desks and make for the doors. Their office, a small Bank of America branch on Massachusetts Avenue, had been more or less taken over by a boisterous rally of 75 or so protesters from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the organizer behind two days' worth of Wall Street-themed protests in or near Washington.&rdquo;   