Families feeling the abusive foreclosure practices of Wells Fargo occupied bank branches in both City of Commerce (on Whitter Blvd.) and Studio City on Saturday, April 25, 2015. Members of Occupy Fights Foreclosures (OFF) and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) asked local branch managers to forward letters describing violations of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights to Wells Fargo headquarters.
The locations of Saturday's actions were not publicly disclosed in advance. Only a morning meet-up location in downtown L.A. was provided to participants and media. Regardless, security in Commerce appeared to be on high alert Saturday morning. Half a dozen security guards on bicycles circled the shopping center parking lot outside the Wells Fargo branch in advance of the protest. However, twenty minutes elapsed between the start of the lobby protest and the arrival of representatives of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department (LASD).
One asked a man carrying a "Wells Fargo: King of Foreclosures" sign a question, and received such a passionate response that the deputy nodded and stepped back in deference to the man's right to express his grievances against Wells Fargo.
Sheriff Deputy Fonseca demonstrated a hostile attitude, intimidating videographer Patti Beers into stepping back from one portion of the sidewalk. He then retreated to corner of the sidewalk with the other law enforcement officers and private security. Multiple private security guards recorded Saturday's action on phone cameras, once they had the protection of the LASD.
Simultaneous to the action in East Los Angeles, members of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) occupied a Wells Fargo branch in Studio City, CA to bring attention to the plight of an 80-year-old woman who has lived in her home for five decades. Wells Fargo would rather evict her than work out a loan modification.
Full story and pix: Families Protest Abusive Foreclosure Practices of Wells Fargo Bank by Jessica Lux
April 7, 2015: Marchers carried 617 life-sized cardboard coffins, one for each of the 617 confirmed people killed by Los Angeles County law enforcement since the year 2000.
Four Winds of victims' families and supporters--north, south, east, and west--met at separate locations and demonstrated at various places before converging at the LA County Board of Supervisors. The West Wind met at MacArthur Park and, in its travels, visited 6th and Union (site of the police killing of Manuel Jamines); the Rampart police station; and the LA Unified School District Headquarters building; before their ultimate destination, the LA County Board of Supervisors.
The East Wind gathered outside the East LA Sheriff Department before rallying at Mariachi Plaza, LAPD headquarters at 1st and Main St., and finally the LA County Board of Supervisors.
The North Wind began at the Men's Central Jail at Bauchet and Vignes and marched past Union Station, through Skid Row, past the memorial site for slain Brother Africa, before joining the other Four Winds at the Board of Supervisors.
The South Wind traveled to the LAPD Newton Division Station, and the Hill Street Court en route to County Board of Supervisors.
Occupy Los Angeles OWS reports, "As the crowd first took the streets for a die-in adjacent to the array of hundreds of coffins, songs played over the portable address system included 'Every Breath You Take / I'll Be Missing You,' and 'What's Going On.' Danza Azteca led the hundreds assembled in a musical dance ceremony honoring Mother Earth."
"Even those who prepared the hand-painted coffins in the weeks leading up to the march expressed a somber, awestruck silence upon seeing hundreds of paper memorials occupying the entire roadway outside the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration," Occupy Los Angeles OWS continues.
Full story and photos: United Families For Justice Carry 617 Coffins to Downtown L.A. #DeathByCop Rally by Occupy Los Angeles OWS