Big bank protest in Amarillo

NewsChannel 10

Amarillo, Texas - The Occupy Amarillo movement is once again hitting the streets of downtown as they take part in a worldwide protest against big banks.

Occupy Amarillo member Jami says, "It's more of an impact protest to show them how much effect we can have on them if we all band together."

They're calling it "Bank Transfer Day." They're asking people to take their money out of huge corporations like Bank of America and Wells Fargo and become members of credit unions and locally owned banks instead.

Occupy Amarillo member Rusty explains, "Credit unions have more local investments. The big banks take money and give it to their CEO's and top officers. The big banks are why these people are making millions of dollars. They're foreclosing on people's houses, leaving them homeless."

While the Occupy movement stands for many different things, they're focusing on banks this weekend for a reason.

Jami says, "We're trying to protest the entire corrupt system by starting with where we feel it started. That is why people are on Wall Street protesting instead of in front of the capital in D.C. protesting because it's not just about the government and their shady politics, it's about the people who are feeding the shady politics lots and lots of money."

They're hoping this protest will force big banks to change their ways.

Rusty says, "I hope it will have a change in their policy where they would think more about their customers and less about their officers."

The rally will take place Saturday at 1 PM in front of City Hall in downtown Amarillo.