Occupy Auckland protest mobs Citibank Centre
Protest group makes a foray from its Aotea Square base, descending on the downtown commercial district.
A small group of ‘occupy’ protestors crowded the doors of the Citbank building in downtown Auckland this morning, making a rare foray from their upper Queen Street base.
The Citibank Centre houses US bank Citi's local office, the US consulate and, at street level, a Postshop with a Kiwibank.
Four police officers stood just inside the door, and told NBR they would take no action unless the lobby was invaded. The protesters demurred.
NBR asked a spokesman for the group if it had any specific demand for the NZ or US government. The spokesman replied the protest was a show of solidarity with the Wall Street occupation. The US consulate was the target of the protest.
Banners exhorted passersby to "Love More" and "Fear Less". The protestors briefly took up a "We are the 99% chant," and "We want power" (the call that drew NBR's correspondent from the newspaper's office across the street, assuming it was some kind of shopkeeper unrest over the gas cuts).
A member of the group waving a Unite banner said he was a supporter of the service workers' union rather than directly affiliated.
One protestor expressed concern about what he called a "Zionist conspiracy" and the influence of the Rothschild banking dynasty.
Another said the group would stay in front of the Citibank building for “between one minute and eternity.”
But five minutes later, the noisy but well-mannered group was trooping back to its Aotea Square base, safely away from the downtown commercial district.
NBR staff
Fri, 28 Oct 2011
Fri, 28 Oct 2011
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