Occupy Democracy Protesters Shut Down Local Bank of America Branch

Around 40 members of the protest group Occupy Democracy Pasadena demonstrated in front of three local bank branches Saturday, leading to a 90-minute closure of the busy Bank of America branch at the intersection of Lake Ave. and Colorado Blvd.

The organizers said their purpose was to increase public awareness and present each bank with a bill representing taxes each bank should have paid to be a fully-participating member of U.S. Democracy.

Maddie-Gavel Briggs of Occupy Democracy Pasadena said “we’ve targeted these three specific banks – Bank of America, Chase, and Wells Fargo – because they’re some of the most infamous tax dodgers around; Bank of America, in particular.”

At the Bank of America, the “tax bill” was reportedly presented to a female employee who politely refused the bill at first, but eventually accepted after being told that the manager at Chase, whom the group visited just prior, accepted the document.

The bank later put up a sign saying they were temporarily closed due to “circumstances beyond our control”. [More below slideshow]

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The group gathered in front of the Bank of America, marched on towards Chase, then Wells Fargo, and eventually back to the Bank of America presenting their tax bills to each bank.

According to the group, US banks receive the government’s largesse but don’t honorably pay their fair share of the taxes democracies require in order to function.

“It applies to corporations as it applies to people, that if you participate in a society where you benefit from the resources that are put forth by the society – the roads, security, the public services – that you need to pay your fair share,” explained Gavel-Briggs.

“And I’m not anti-capitalism,” Gavel-Briggs said.

“I just think that we need more regulation and we need a fairer playing field. When the people who have all the money and have a monopoly on the money, [and] lending the money, and are responsible for the biggest part of our meltdown get bailed out, and then don’t turn around and recognize the fact that they need to contribute to the people that actually bailed them out – there’s something wrong with that equation,” said Gavel-Briggs.

Occupy Democracy Pasadena organizers say they are inspired by the Occupy movement and believe that democracy only works when people participate in it, which is why people need to “occupy” the concept of democracy in order to expect change.