Groups Target Chase Bank for Divestment
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Local activists gathered at noon August 27 2012 in front of the local JP Morgan Chase bank headquarters. Members included Metro Justice, Band of Rebels, Take Back The Land, Rochester Red And Black and the International Socialist Organization. Chase bank has been responsible for a large number of illegal foreclosures and evictions. Chase was bailed out after the 2008 financial crisis and one of the provisions was that it work to keep distressed families in their homes. It has not complied.
Chase holds millions of dollars in deposits for the City of Rochester, taxpayer money. One major demand of the groups is that the City remove these deposits and instead put them in more responsible, locally-run banks. Other cities in New York including Buffalo, Binghamton and Hempstead have already done so.
The protesters caused such a stir that bank security locked the doors, only letting card-holding customers and employees in during the event. A bag of garbage collected from a Chase-foreclosed home was dumped in front of the door. It was later cleaned up. Once again, the people clean up Chase's mess.
