Not quite Occupy Wall Street, but similar message from Morristown protesters at bank

Lew Schwartz, one of the organizers of Occupy Morristown protest at Bank of America. Photo by Berit Ollestad
Lew Schwartz, one of the organizers of Occupy Morristown protest at Bank of America. Photo by Berit Ollestad
0

By Berit Ollestad

“We’re mad as hell and we’re not gonna take it any longer!” declared a handful of local protesters who gathered in Morristown on Wednesday to decry the practices of Bank of America.

But was anyone listening at the bank’s South Street branch?

An organizer of the event, the Rev. Allen Wells of the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, tried to arrange a meeting with Bank of America representatives and said he was told “we would be more than willing to talk with you about your personal account, but nothing more.”

Photos by Berit Ollestad. Please click icon below for captions.

Asked why  he continues banking with an organization with which he disagrees so vehemently, Wells said it gives him more leverage.

“They are far more interested in talking with me when I’m a customer of theirs as opposed to someone that has no vested interest in their practices,” he said. “Many of the individuals that work in the South Street branch, I know personally and they like me, and they are a part of the 99 percent also.”

Wells made the pilgrimage to Zucotti Park when the Occupy Wall Street movement was in full swing and was so impressed with how it functioned that he helped form the loosely based Occupy Morristown group, hosting the first meeting in his home.

 Lew Schwartz helped organize the Morristown protest to coincide with Bank of America’s annual shareholder meetings in Charlotte, N.C.

Lew Schwartz, one of the organizers of Occupy Morristown protest at Bank of America. Photo by Berit Ollestad
Lew Schwartz, one of the organizers of Occupy Morristown protest at Bank of America. Photo by Berit Ollestad

“It’s important that we get this information out to the community to help them understand the over-exaggerated role that government has taken with many of these corporations that are destroying America,” Schwartz said.  “I wish I could say this is atypical of America but unfortunately this is the America of today.”

Rolling Stone magazine published a scathing exposé of Bank of America, entitled Too Crooked to Fail, alleging widespread predatory practices, propped up by Uncle Sam.

Although most of Wednesday’s demonstrators have not been affected directly by Bank of America’s practices, they were angry enough to show up anyway.

Toni Erb of East Hanover became an activist shortly after 9/11, becoming  a regular on the Morristown Green at protests against U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Morristown police placed two officers near the bank to “keep the peace.”  But according to protesters, they were only spoken to once for their signage being too far over in the road, obstructing drivers’ visibility. The majority of motorists seemed supportive, offering a hoot and holler or a wave.

 

 

LEAVE A REPLY