Working across the street from Bank of America at 50 California Street in San Francisco, I witnessed the beginning and climax of the protests today. The police stormed the building when protesters took over the lobby of the bank. The lobby and entrances were secured by SFPD with some necessary roughness. I didn’t witness any excessive force, and the students were conducting themselves in properly as well. I did see a girl tag “Occupy” between the ATM machines in white marker. I also saw a piece of trash thrown in the direction of the police when they were clearing the entrance. Those were the only two examples of bad behavior I witnessed. All-in-all this was a successful and well organized protest.
Students marching down California St. on their way to Bank of America
Setting up the occupation.
Just after the protesters arrived at the bank, police began filing in on motorcycles across the street. The video is taken from my office across the street. Not knowing what was going on, many of us were cracking jokes about what we saw. It’s hard to make out, but you can see where the ATM’s were tagged between the machines.
The beginning of the protest. The bank lobby is occupied and the entrances are blocked at this point.
This is the view from my building across the street at ground level. I began just shooting the crowd and planned on leaving, but then I saw the SFPD in riot gear marching in formation. I followed them to the bank entrance, which was blocked at the time. They eventually got in through a side door, and stormed the lobby. They cleared the barricade of the main entrance and moved the protesters back from the entry by force. Some students were knocked down, but I saw no excessive force. You can see the piece of trash that was thrown at police in this video.
This is the scene after everything has calmed down and some of the riot police have been relieved. A detachment remained at the front entry and police began dealing with those in the lobby. Students began chanting and expressing their position over bullhorns. Eventually they all sat down, demonstrating their intent of peaceful protest and resolve to not leave.
After the police have secured the building.
Protesters just before sitting in the street and sidewalk.
Apparently the police calmly arrested the lobby occupents one at a time for the next several hours. I was no longer there, and learned of it watching KRON4 news at 6pm the same day.
