According to Max Allstadt, who this blogger interviewed on Thursday and just after he got out of jail for a video that appears below, Occupy Oakland’s General Assembly took a vote “a few hours ago” to place $20,000 in Wells Fargo Bank.
Now that last sentence would normally not be news, except that the Occupy Movement has advocated and protested against the “Big Banks,” of which Wells Fargo certainly qualifies as.
Max’s information was confirmed by the tweets of @GonzOakland, who hit the ceiling on Twitter. Here’s a sample of his tweets:
@GonzOakland GonzOakland
#occupyoakland just voted by 95% to 5% to put a $20000 gift from #occupywallstreet in a FUCKING WELLS FARGO ACCOUNT!5 hours ago via Echofon
And how did Occupy Oakland come into $20,000? It was a gift from Occupy Wall Street.
Tim Fong, a member of the Occupy Oakland Finance Committee, responded to GonzOakland’s and angry tweets. Here are his tweet responses to @GiveMeThatJuice:
@tyfong919 Tim Fong
@GiveMeThatJuice Then please refrain from the derisive comments about #rookie, etc. I work for myself. And you? And who are you?
2 hours ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply
@GiveMeThatJuice Vizzle
@tyfong919 Someone who has been tear gassed, arrested, bled, donated, work for and with occupy that is sick with the decision to Wells Fargo
2 hours ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply
The need for the funds is related to bail debts that were caused by the large number of arrests made after the rioting and violence of last week. As of this writing, 12 people are still in jail, and reportedly being victimized by terrible conditions there. I caution the observer to avoid making assumptions that the persons arrested were participating in the violence. Many people were wrongly arrested.
@tyfong919 Tim Fong
@GonzOakland The driving issue was exigency in the face of what the solidarity committee described as bad treatment in the jail. #OO
2 hours ago via web
Apparently one of the reasons for the decision to place the $20,000 in Wells Fargo was that the Long Haul Anarchist Collective, the non-profit fiscal agent for Occupy Oakland, had offered to hold the money, but (for some reason) can’t use their bank account for jail bailouts. Occupy Oakland needed “quick access” to the $20,000, but apparently didn’t know about Oakland’s Community Bank Of The Bay, a local credit union located near Broadway and 17th Street, just up the block from the Occupy Oakland encampment.
Max After Jail
And here is the video interview with Mr. Allstadt made after he was released from jail after the rioting of the evening after the day-long Occupy Oakland General Strike.
Stay tuned.
Bill Carroll