This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

'Occupy Elk Grove' Targets Bank of America

Protesters say they want to draw attention to the role of big banks in society.

With activists planning for a national day of action against big banks Nov. 5, Occupy Elk Grove members got in a little warm-up Saturday with a protest at a local Bank of America.

A half-dozen protesters rallied in the morning outside , denouncing foreclosures and bank bailouts and urging people to invest their money in credit unions instead.

"Banks made risky moves and were bailed out with taxpayer money and in return they are foreclosing on homeowners and don’t invest in communities," said Gretel Elving, a founding member of Occupy Elk Grove. (The group debuted a few weeks ago in solidarity with the anti-corporate Occupy Wall Street movement sweeping the nation.)

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Click on the video above to hear one protester explain why she took part in the event.

Bank employees declined to comment on the protest, and security guards did nothing to intervene. It was a sharp contrast to other bank protests carried out by the national Occupy movement in which customers have been asked to leave or even detained by guards as they tried to close their accounts.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Bank of America has drawn particular criticism from consumers since announcing in September it would impose a $5 monthly fee on debit card users.

“Bank of America’s fee on debit cards was the last straw for people," said protester Lorraine Krofchok, director of Grandmothers for Peace. "Maybe they should take partial credit for the Occupy Movement."

A Bank of America spokesperson did not return several calls and emails requesting comment.

Over 60,000 people have RSVPed on Facebook for a national Bank Transfer Day Nov. 5, in which customers plan to withdraw their money from major banks and deposit it in credit unions.

Some of the protesters Saturday said they already banked with credit unions.

Anne Brackett, a customer at Golden 1 Credit Union, said banking there "keeps the money in the community. When you bank locally there's a huge difference that people aren't aware of."

Attendance at Occupy Elk Grove events has so far been small and mostly limited to a few familiar faces. But the group's Facebook presence is growing, and many fans are also involved in supporting Occupy Sacramento.

Felicia Mello contributed reporting to this story.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Elk Grove