INDIANAPOLIS — Dozens of anti-Wall Street protesters marched Saturday through downtown Indianapolis, chanting slogans and holding signs berating the nation's big banks after a rally where they urged people to transfer their money to local banks and credit unions.
About 80 protesters marched from the Indiana Statehouse to Monument Circle, where they stopped outside two banks and loudly chanted "This is democracy in action!" before continuing.
The march was part of the Occupy Wall Street movement's push to get people to transfer their money from big national banks to local banks and credit unions in protest of the multibillion-dollar profits banks have enjoyed since receiving federal bailout funds during the 2008 financial crisis.
Plainfield resident Stacy Seiler joined Saturday's march under sunny skies with her 10-year-old daughter, Valerie. Seiler said she was surprised to recently learn that the bank where she keeps her savings had received some federal bailout funds.
Seiler intends to move her money from that bank but said she hasn't found a satisfactory credit union near her home west of Indianapolis.
"Even if it's a little bit, the banks are going to feel it," she said. "And the more people who catch on and do it, the more and more these banks will definitely feel it."
Valerie's father, Brian Schrock, said the money that went into federal bank bailout would have been better spent if it had gone toward helping average Americans save their homes from foreclosure and aiding others who continue to struggle in the weak economy.
Schrock said he's fed up with the "revolving door" of politicians leaving office to become corporate lobbyists, or vice versa.
"How are you going to regulate something if you're making money off of it?" he asked.
Before their march, the protesters gathered on the south steps of the Statehouse, where University of Indianapolis graduate student Jithin Vijayan told the crowd big banks "are the reason we have this recession."
"These big banks are apparently too big to fail, but we have the power to take our money out of these big banks and split them up like our politicians should be doing," he said.
As they began their blocks-long march, Vijayan led the crowd in chanting "We are the 99 percent!" — expressing the Occupy movement's view that the majority of Americans aren't getting a fair shake.
The protesters held up signs that read "Wall Street is Crippled Inside," "Greed" and "Stop the War on Workers" as they noisily made their way toward Monument Circle, drawing honks of support from some passing cars.
Indianapolis resident Sue Grizzell said she attended Saturday's rally as an observer and wasn't happy to see an obscenity on one protester's sign.
But the 53-year-old teacher said she sympathizes with the protesters' concerns about the federal bank bailout, even though she feels the government had to take steps to prevent a financial collapse.
"The government needed to do something — it was just handled very, very clumsily," Grizzell said. "There weren't any conditions on how the money should have been used. And then the people heard about bonuses being given — millions of dollars to bank executives. Perception kind of rules doesn't it?"
Read More
Over 3,000 Cardinals join the Ball State family of alumni following commencement
By Ella Howell / 15 hours agoThe Quad filled with approximately 3,000 graduating Cardinals and their loved ones the morning of May 4 in preparation for the 198th Ball State University Commencement.
Board of Trustees approves new Ball State Athletics Performance Center during May meeting
By Olivia Ground / YesterdayThe Board of Trustees met May 3, revealing plans for an upcoming renovation of the College of Architecture and Planning (CAP) building, plans for an upcoming sports performance training center, changes in the university core curriculum and many hiring and human resources developments being made in the upcoming months.
