According to 2010 Census data, over 10,000 people go homeless on the streets of San Francisco every night, while the city is home to 30,000 vacant housing units. According to Ted Gullicksen of the San Francisco Tenants Union: “It’s well known how big banks have unfairly evicted homeowners. Less well known is how banks evict renters by partnering with speculators to buy apartment buildings, [and then] evict all tenants to raise rents or sell the housing stock as condominiums.”
Wells Fargo is one of these banks, which is why Occupy San Francisco occupied it on Jan. 14. It is the main bank in the Mission District profiting from pushing Latino residents out of their homes at the same time as it spends $3.1 billion on detention centers further targeting Mission District residents.
At noon, 200 people met at the Wells Fargo on 16th and Mission Streets to protest. The demonstration was propelled when six occupiers held up banners stating “Banks: No Foreclosures/Evictions For Profit!” and “Make Banks Pay!” and set up a tent on the roof of the bank. Other Occupy SF activists occupied inside the bank as people outside picketed chanting, “Aqui estamos y no nos vamos!” and “You take our roof; we take your roof!”
Occupy SF is a network of community groups, unions and individuals that has rallied in support of families threatened with foreclosure. The Party for Socialism and Liberation, a member of Occupy SF, was present on the roof documenting the occupation, and on the ground displayed a banner reading “Seize the Banks.”
As a fire truck arrived with the SF Police Department to take the occupiers down, the crowd surrounded it chanting: “Hey, hey, ho, ho these evictions have got to go.” Later, as the SFPD got increasingly violent, people chanted “Hey, hey, ho, ho the SFPD has got to go!”
The occupiers told the SFPD that they would leave the roof once the SFPD faxed a list of their demands to the corporate manager of Wells Fargo John Stumps and he agreed to meet with the Occupy housing coalition to work out a plan for a moratorium on home foreclosures. The protesters on the ground began chanting, “Que pagan lo que deban; they [the banks] owe us!”
Speakers from Causa Justa/Just Cause and the San Francisco Tenants Union highlighted the use of Ellis Act evictions to rip residents out of their homes, the massive funding Wells Fargo has forked over to detention centers that result in an increase in homeless youth due to deportations of their parents, and the role of other banks such as Bank of America and Citibank that have also profiteered from home and rental evictions.
Meesha Irizarry, with Occupy the Hood, pointed out that in San Francisco there are thousands of homes currently being foreclosed on. If there is a ground zero for home foreclosures, it is the Bayview District, home to a largely African American population.
After the SFPD faxed the demands to the Wells Fargo branch manager, Holly Rockwood, the officers demanded that four people come down. The occupiers said no, not until John Stumps agreed to meet with members of the Occupy housing coalition. In response, the protesters on the ground cheered and chanted, “Estamos juntos en la lucha” and “You take our homes; we take your banks”
SFPD representatives then got on the roof, pushed the tent off the roof and proceeded to arrest the roof occupiers. Before being arrested, the roof occupiers told the crowd that the next step is to occupy the financial district of San Francisco on Jan. 20 to stop evictions and make the banks pay.
Protesters erupted with chants, “Arrest the CEO; let them go” as they attempted to block the SFPD van from exiting with the roof occupiers. The demonstration then moved to the police station on Valencia Street, chanting for the occupiers’ release. The occupiers were released shortly thereafter.
The successful Jan. 14 action showed that a popular movement is growing against foreclosures in the Bay Area that demands that banks pay, not the working class. This important movement needs to grow. The ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) will be holding a direct action on Jan. 20 at 8 a.m. as part of Occupy Wall Street West Day at Mint Plaza in San Francisco. Join us!
