Well Fargo's Fossil Fuel Investments Protested in Market Street Action

Photos: Leon Kunstenaar / Pro Bono Photo

There are those who say that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Perhaps, but the loud disruption, complete with the SF fire department working with bolt cutters, saws and grinders to untie protesters and many police arresting and taking away protesters cannot have done all that much to promote the bank's image.

Organized by 350.org, Extinction Rebellion and others, the activists assembled at Justin Herman Plaza and then marched to the Wells Fargo Bank at 333 Market Street. They entered the lobby and with well rehearsed efficiency chained themselves together. The surprise was complete, with security employees frantically running around locking doors and making phone calls. Outside, others with megaphones handed out leaflets and blasted the bank's financing of the fossil fuel industry. Two people displayed a large banner. A frequent sight at environmental protests, women dressed in canvas sacks symbolized the calamities - famine, drought, habitat loss, and atmospheric rivers - wrought by humanity's addiction to fossil fuels.

In due time the police arrived, first one and then a couple of dozen. And then a gigantic fire truck. After some delay, the firefighters set about separating the activists who were connected by chains and metal lined tubes. It was no small job, requiring an array of metal cutting power tools. They also had to cut into a large metal barrel to reach some protests' arms.

With the entrance to the bank controlled by protesters, police assembled the detainees in the back service entrance of the building. Arrested people were handcuffed, their belongings placed in paper bags (including driver's licenses), patted down, placed in locked vans and taken away.

As Wells Fargo's management refuses to even talk to environmentalists, protesters plan to continue untill they do and above all, until they end their financing of the fossil fuel industry.

See all high resolution photos here.