This protest follows an action last week in which two protesters locked themselves down in the bank’s lobby and had to be removed by police. Wednesday’s action, which was publicly announced on Facebook, drew a Providence Police detail, but the entire affair was very low key, and no arrests were made.
Protesters handed out flyers and held signs. One woman, Amy, after hearing from protester Sally Mendzela about the bank’s involvement with DAPL, told me that though she had come to open an account with the bank, she was not. Mendzela said that the woman was the second person to be dissuaded from doing business with TD Bank since she arrived.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high between the “water protecters” and DAPL developer Energy Transfer Partners. Tribes are invoking their treaty rights even as the developer threatens arrests and even violence. As reported by Mary Annette Pember, “the Morton County Sheriff’s Department backed by North Dakota Governor Jack Dalyrmple continued to ratchet up displays of military-style police force.”
The video below, published by Jennifer Minor on October 25, shows police using pepper spray before arresting protesters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=066h12rmcDQ
]]>Only the ATM was available to bank customers for about a half hour. Laura Borth and Steve Davis, both Fang Collective activists, were arrested and will be charged with disrupting a business, a misdemeanor.
TD Bank was targeted because it provides major financing to the Dakota Access Pipeline project that is being vociferously protested by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others.
“Let The FANG Collective’s action serve as an example of what an ally group should look like,” said Krystal Two Bulls, a Sioux activist protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. “If you live on this land, breathe the air and drink water… this is your fight too. Divest. Take action. Stand with us at Red Warrior Camp and Standing Rock. We call on all ally groups to take action and hold the banks who finance the Dakota Access Pipeline accountable.”
The Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL, is a $3.8 billion fracked-oil pipeline being constructed in the Bakken shale fields of North Dakota to Peoria, Illinois. It would cross Lakota Treaty Territory at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and traverse underneath the Missouri River. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe is leading an effort to stop the pipeline from being built.
“TD Bank is an active participant in the violence and oppression facing indigenous people in North Dakota,” said Laura Borth, in a statement prepared before her arrest. “I cannot remain idle as corporations and financial institutions aggressively put forth their greed for profit over the safety and wellbeing of people and the climate.”
Said Steve Davis, “TD Bank still has an opportunity to do the right thing and cut its line of credit for the Dakota Access Pipeline. We will keep coming back until they do just that.”
]]>At issue is the Dakota Access Pipeline currently under construction from the Bakken shale fields of North Dakota to Peoria, Illinois. DAPL is slated to cross Lakota Treaty Territory at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation where it would be laid underneath the Missouri River, the longest river on the continent.
Organizers contend that construction of the DAPL “would engender a renewed fracking-frenzy in the Bakken shale region, as well as endanger a source of fresh water for the Standing Rock Sioux and 8 million people living downstream. DAPL would also impact many sites that are sacred to the Standing Rock Sioux and other indigenous nations.”
Thousands have gathered to stand against the pipeline in North Dakota, and President Obama has temporarily halted construction, but the fight will continue.
Democracy Now! has provided excellent, in depth coverage of the resistance for those who want to catch up on this important and developing story.
The protest outside TD Bank, organized by the FANG Collective, was entirely peaceful, with dozens of environmental and indigenous American activists bearing signs and leafleting passersby. The crowd grew to take over all four corners at Westminster and Dorrance.
Below is the full video of those who spoke at the event, followed by photos:
]]>— TD Bank, one of the nation’s largest banks and a sponsor of both the Boston Bruins and Celtics, is interested in helping Johnston keep track of an estimated $42 million that’s been set aside to help pay the pensions of firefighters and police officers, officials say.
Now, there is nothing wrong with that lede I guess – supporting local teams is nice- but I suppose there would have been nothing wrong with also having a lede that said that TD Bank isn’t one of THIS nation’s largest banks but actually a Canadian Bank. And since when do private banks, American or Canadian, care so much about a munipalities future, never mind the well being of its workers? Now, the lede could have explained that TD Bank’s CEO pay was $11.4 million last year, an increase of 8%, which I am sure he earned, and which I am sure the tax payers of Johnston are very willing to subsidize with their hard earned tax dollars.
Like I said…it’s just about choices in focus, right?
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