VANCOUVER—On Saturday, October 24, the people at Occupy Vancouver moved from the eternal process of the general assembly to the exciting world of direct action.
The "Run on the Banks" action marked an escalation on an occupation that's been busy building infrastructure. This was not an official Occupy Vancouver action but an offshoot, as stated on Occupy Vancouver's twitter account.
About 1,000 trouble-makers made their way through the streets of downtown Vancouver with the intention to occupy corporate banks and encourage folks to close their accounts.
And that they did. A Royal Bank of Canada branch was the first target, with about 50 people jamming the lobby while some withdrew their cash.
At the Bank of Montreal people shut down their account and moved to other options.
But the cherry on top was the occupation of TD, or Toronto Dominion Bank, right next to the Occupy Vancouver camp at the Art Gallery. A home stereo was cranked to the max and the people rocked out on top of teller desks and furniture.
An idea was floated around to continue occupying through the night, but the group could not reach consensus, and the process ultimately disrupted the party.
The police quietly moved in and occupied the spots where tellers once stood to protect their corporate masters. Finally the group decided to move out en masse and avoid arrest.
This piece was originally produced for the Vancouver Media Co-op. Franklin Lopez is a Vancouver-based filmmaker and creator of Submedia.tv.
The Dominion is a monthly paper published by an incipient network of independent journalists in Canada. It aims to provide accurate, critical coverage that is accountable to its readers and the subjects it tackles. Taking its name from Canada's official status as both a colony and a colonial force, the Dominion examines politics, culture and daily life with a view to understanding the exercise of power.
badass
Thanks for the vid, Frankie.