What went wrong with the Citiback arrests (my perspective).

[garybeck]

When I heard that a bunch of people were arrested for closing their accounts at Citibank this weekend, I thought, OMG, WTF is going on in this country??? I searched the internets and for 2 days all I could find is a short video showing some people getting arrested but no real explanation.

Today I read this article by one of the protesters:

http://gawker.com/5850398/a-protesters-account-of-this-weekends-citibank-arrests

Now I get it.

Folks, this is not how to do it. These people were asking to be arrested. If they want to make a big show and tell their story, do it OUTSIDE the building, on the public sidewalk, NOT INSIDE the place of business.

If they want to make a big statement by doing this together all at the same time, just walk in as a group, get in line, walk up to the teller, and cancel your account. Or withdraw 99% of your savings.

DON'T walk into a place of business and stage a "Teach in" as the article describes. And if they ask you to stop and you don't, what do you expect? This is their place of business. If you walk in there and do anything other than conduct business with them, you're disrupting their operations, and you're just asking to be arrested.

It doesn't matter if you're walking into Starbuck's and pontificating about the price of tea in China, or holding a teach-in at Citibank. In either case you're going to get arrested if you don't stop when they ask you to.

If they were planning or hoping to get arrested from the beginning, then they did a great job. But i'm not sure it really was a great idea. If they were surprised that they were arrested and thought the bank was going to let them conduct a "teach-in" in their lobby, I think they have a screw loose somewhere.

Just my opinion, I guess.

[Eric J in MN]

1. That report says that a few of the protesters left when they were asked to...

...and that a woman trying to leave was grabbed by an undercover cop and pulled back in.

http://gawker.com/5850398/a-protesters-account-of-this-weekends-citibank-arrests

[garybeck]

3. "During this second speech we were asked to leave by management, but chose to keep on talking."

I don't see where a few people left. Regardless, if most of the people stayed and kept talking when they were asked to stop, a couple people leaving is pretty inconsequential. The significant point is that most of them stayed.

[Eric J in MN]

6. "When we were asked to leave by management, she and a few others walked out."

"...The man in the video in the hoodie who grabs her is a plain-clothes cop."

[garybeck]

8. again, a couple people walking out doesn't make up for the fact that

the rest of them stayed and ignored the requests to stop.

personally, if I owned a coffee shop and people came in and started doing a teach-in without my permission, I don't care what the subject matter is. If I asked them to stop and they didn't, I would call the cops.

[Eric J in MN]

10. There was only one request to stop, according to that report.

...and it was from management.

The cops could have told them, if you don't leave then you'll be arrested for trespassing.

There was no police warning.

Even that woman who respected the management request to leave was dragged back in by an undercover cop.

[garybeck]

15. I'm not saying the police handled it well. I'm saying that

none of it would have happened if the people held their teach-in in a public place.

did the cops act badly? sure.

but when you stir up the bee's nest what do you expect? cops usually act badly. innocent bystanders often get sucked in. it comes with the territory.

what i'm saying is the idea that there's some kind of surprise or bewilderment that people got arrested here is a bit of a joke.

[lsewpershad]

17. Mr Graybeck

Why aren't the thieves <1% ers > not being manhandled and charged for bring this country down by crookery?

[garybeck]

19. what does that have to do with this particular incident?

absolutely nothing.

my OP was about a group of people who went into a business and held a "teach-in" and didn't leave when they were asked to, and for some reason a lot of people seem to be surprised that they were arrested.

your question is completely unrelated. I agree that the people who pull the strings at the big banks should be in jail. But that has nothing to do with this.

If that's the point these people are trying to make, going to a local branch where there are 99%ers at the teller booth and holding a teach-in and not stopping when asked to, is not the right approach.

maybe they should head down to the corporate headquarters, ala Michael Moore style.

but to ask your question in this context is a little out of place.

[Eric J in MN]

22. If they had the teach-in on the sidewalk, they could have been arrested for...

..."blocking pedestrian traffic."

[Eric J in MN]

2. Duplicate NT

NT

[randome]

4. Another voice of reason.

You're on my list, garybeck.

But prepare to be labeled a traitor for being objective.

[hfojvt]

5. oh yeah,

well as soon as I get married, my wife and I are going to the nearest Hilton and holding a peace sleep in.

Of course, I am expected to get married on the same day that the Minnesota Vikings win the Superbowl, but that's beside the point.


Thanks for shedding some light on the "Citibank customers were arrested for closing their accounts" story, although I predict you will be arrested for trying to start a teach in in GD. The business of GD is flinging poo at the other side, and you are clearly disrupting that.

[garybeck]

7. just make sure, at your peace sleep-in, that you keep your clothes on

so when they drag you out in handcuffs we don't have to see your bare butts in the newspaper :)

[hfojvt]

14. hey, I happen to have an excellent Martian butt

I work out, and reaping burns a lot of calories

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9YpnklYhxY&feature=related

[Sarah Ibarruri]

9. Here's what I don't get. Why don't banks act HONESTLY? The jerks realize that...

in popularity there right down there along with dog poop, so why don't they CLEAN UP THEIR ACT? My God, the people running banks are greedy flesh and nothing else.

[FiveGoodMen]

11. I think you answered your own question.

I don't think it's really possible for the mind of a human being to get inside the mind of a 1 percenter.

It's like trying to imagine how a shark feels.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

12. I just somehow thought even the greedy had a few brain cells. Clearly not. nt

[randome]

16. Right.

Do you really think that if we all keep repeating that people should act more pleasantly and fair to one another, that it will happen?

It's human nature to be greedy. And it's corporate nature to take the path of least resistance. 'Do no harm' applies to the corporation, not to customers. That's the kind of society we've built.

The banks and corporations need to be reigned in with better and more targeted regulations. That's government's role and our elected politicians have not been doing their jobs for a long time, now.

[Iggo]

13. '...These people were asking to be arrested...'

Well, yeah.

[Nye Bevan]

18. Thanks. Previous threads on this made it sound like they were waiting quietly in line,

asked politely to close their accounts, and were then arrested.

There's usually more to the story.

[garybeck]

20. exactly, the headlines were saying "people arrested for closing their accounts" and that is NOT

what happened.

the people were arrested for holding a teach-in inside the bank, and when asked to stop, they didn't.

99 times out of 100, those people will get arrested.

the truth is they were NOT getting arrested for closing their accounts. bad reporting. misleading headlines.

[thereismore]

21. Yeah I get it. Maybe they were asking to get arrested. They got what they wanted, and the bank is

still the DOUCHEBAG that it is.

[Eric J in MN]

23. I don't think they wanted to be arrested.

I think that if the police had told them, "Leave or get arrested," then they would have left.