Marin Protesters Join Occupy Wall Street

A group of protestors gathered in front of in San Rafael to protest the bank's planned fee increases and to support an ongoing series of demonstrations known as Occupy Wall Street.

"Even people in Marin are struggling. They feel the pressure of the economy in the past few years and the growing inequity," said San Anselmo resident Pat Johnstone, who is the county organizer for the Marin Council of MoveOn.org.

Occupy Wall Street is a series of protests that began in New York and recently spread to several cities, including San Francisco and now San Rafael. The group voices its opposition to social and economic inequity, as well as the influence of corporate money in politics.

Marin MoveOn organizers chose Bank of America due to a plan to charge $5 per month for its customers to use their debit cards. Johnstone and other organizers are urging people to close their Bank of America accounts and open new ones in local branches.

Other demands include investing in infrastructure, creating energy jobs, investing in public education, offering Medicare for all, having secure Social Security, taxing the country's wealthiest and ending taxes that unfairly burden the middle class and poor.

"I'm definitely one of the 99 percent," said Carolyn Koefoed, who came out on her lunch break to join the demonstration.

Koefoed worked in the county's health services department for almost a decade before she was laid off in June. She moved to San Rafael after he lost her apartment in Novato, because her unemployment didn't cover her rent. Then, in July she was re-hired as a temporary worker with no benefits.

"I'm grateful to be working, but no benefits? And I'm in my fifties," she said.

Protesters chanted while drivers honked in show of support. Although this was the first protest in Marin in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, Johnstone said that Marin MoveOn has been working on spreading awareness about these issues for several months.

"The 'American Dream' only works if the American people are working," she said.