Occupy Durham marches on Wells Fargo in “Move Your Money” protest
Durham, NC – 40 people marched here, Nov. 12, from Occupy Durham's rallying place in downtown Durham to a Wells Fargo branch two miles away, to protest big banks like Wells Fargo, Citibank, Bank of America and others. Protesters chanted, “Hey hey Wells Fargo, foreclosures have got to go!” and “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” After arriving at the bank, ten people withdrew their money and closed down their accounts with Wells Fargo. Outside the bank, protesters held signs and denounced foreclosures and exploitative lending practices – under the watchful eye of three Durham police squad cars and another police officer on foot.
The protest was part of the national “Move your money” campaign, which has seen [650,000 open up accounts at local credit unions](http://thinkprogress.org/special/2011/11/03/360804/650000-americans-credit-unions/) in October 2011 – more than all of 2010 combined. That campaign has itself gained steam based on the Occupy Wall Street movement that is sweeping across the country, with hundreds of encampments and protests against the wealthy and elite taking place every week.
Organizer Alex Chassanoff with [Occupy Durham](http://www.occupydurham.org) commented, “We're against the big banks' predatory lending, illegal foreclosure practices, extremely high interest rates and hidden fees. We want people to invest in the local community, not with the banks that represent the interests of the 1%.”