Protesters chanted slogans outside the Bank of America shareholder meeting Wednesday, under the watchful gaze of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, private security and members of the media who far outnumbered them.
They said they were opposed to foreclosures and funding Bank of America provides to coal power plants and other polluting enterprises. The protesters took on the persona of bankers, speaking “in character” and chanting satirically in support of profits and foreclosures.
“We make a lot more money than them, and that makes us better,” said protest organizer Justin Miller, talking about ordinary Americans. He was speaking as a “banker.” The group danced and held signs such as “Capitalism Rock$” and “Profit over People.”
The protesters danced and yelled sarcastic “thank yous” at shareholders who exited the meeting, saying they were grateful for things such as water pollution.
“Your planet gets sicker, our pockets get thicker!” the group yelled, again in character as bankers.
Wednesday was a far cry from the 2012 Bank of America shareholder meeting protest, when 500 or so demonstrators marched through uptown and held a raucous, hours-long rally that closed uptown streets and resulted in several arrests.
In contrast, no streets were shut down this year. Police, protesters and suit-wearing private security guards sporting earpieces mingled calmly. At noon, with no disruptions occurring, the private security guards took an order of Fuel Pizza.
Charlotte City Manager Ron Carlee had previously declared the protest an “extraordinary event,” giving the police expanded enforcement powers such as the ability to search bags. Officers did not appear to use any of those powers Wednesday.
The satirical tone of the event was evidently lost on some of the spectators. Looking at a sign that said “Greed is Good,” a woman turned to her companion.
“What the hell is good about being greedy?” she asked before walking away.
Meanwhile this week, Patrick Danner reported in SF Gate that a coalition of protesters demonstrated outside Wells Fargo's annual shareholder meeting in San Antonio:
Wells Fargo & Co. may be holding its annual meetings outside its home turf in San Francisco of late, but the banking giant continues to attract controversy and protests no matter where it goes.
The bank's top brass were in San Antonio on Tuesday for the company's annual meeting, and although the event went smoothly, Wells Fargo still faced sharp questions over its mortgage practices.
About 40 people picketed outside a Wells Fargo branch a few miles away from the annual meeting. "Banks got bailed out; we got sold out," they chanted, holding "Stop Foreclosures" and "End Predatory Lending" signs.
"We're here because we want and demand accountability from Wells Fargo," said Lauren Rodriguez of the Texas Organizing Project, which she said fights for working families. "We won't accept anything less than an end to their predatory lending, abusive foreclosure practices and investments in private prisons."
Other groups behind the protest included the Committee for Better Banks, Occupy Our Homes and San Antonio's César E. Chávez Education & Legacy Fund.
At the annual meeting, CEO John Stumpf defended Wells Fargo's track record in helping homeowners. Over the last five years, the bank has helped 728,000 homeowners with mortgage modifications and reduced the principal on home loans by $8 billion.
"No other bank has forgiven $8 billion," said Stumpf, who received $19.3 million in compensation last year.
For the second consecutive year, shareholders voted on a proposal calling on Wells Fargo's directors to conduct an independent review to ensure the bank's mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices do not violate fair housing and fair lending laws.
Struggling homeowners continue to encounter problems with Wells Fargo, said Josh Zinner, co-director of the New Economy Project, one of the three groups that filed the stockholder proposal. Those problems include lost paperwork, endless delays and wrongful denials on loan modifications.
"We see these problems particularly in communities of color," Zinner said.
Wells Fargo spokesman Ancel Martinez said the bank strongly disagrees. "We've worked tirelessly in the past few years to ensure homeowners remain in their homes (and) we are deeply invested in seeing their communities thrive," Martinez said. "Wells Fargo is in large part a part of the solution for peoples' financial needs."
The stockholder proposal, which Wells Fargo opposed, was soundly defeated, with 83 percent of the votes cast against it.
Roxanna Zamora, 49, of Whittier (Los Angeles County) told Stumpf she has breast and spine cancer and faces losing her house in foreclosure next month because Wells Fargo won't modify her loan.
"If cancer doesn't kill me, Wells Fargo will," Zamora said.
Zamora later said a Wells Fargo official promised she would be assigned a loan underwriter to help her. She's expecting a call from the underwriter Wednesday.
In further shareholder protests this week, Rising Tide North America announced that 11 people got arrested at Peabody Coal's annual meeting in St. Louis.
From the streets of St. Louis to Black Mesa on the Dine Reservation in the U.S. Southwest, to the farmlands of southern Illinois, people took action because Peabody is literally destroying communities and the planet with mining operations that span the globe.
As Marshall Johnson, Black Mesa resident and a member of Tonizhoni Ani said: “We need to stand up to Peabody on Black Mesa and here in St. Louis so our children and grandchildren and all future generations can have clean water and clean air. I am grateful to Washington U. students for standing up for a respectful future for us all.”
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