#FireDrillFridays, XR protesters set blockades at BlackRock, Wells Fargo, and all around IMF and World Bank

Video-Extinction Rebellion's mobile blockades snarl traffic all over the IMF/World Bank area 1 min 54 sec

Video: charging BlackRock, finding doors locked but first floor EMPTY. Then the Wells Fargo lockdown 3 min 46 sec

The focus of the Dec 6 round of #FireDrillFridays protests was BlackRock, a financial fund manager infamous for both fossil fuel investments and for financing migrant detention camps. Wells Fargo was also hit, with a complex strategy defeating police efforts to keep protesters away. Earlier in the day, Extinction Rebellion blockaded streets all around the area of the IMF and World Bank.

The day began with Extinction Rebellion's street blockades around the IMF and World Bank, starting just after 8AM. What started as a single blockade in front of the World Bank quickly morphed into roving squads that set blockades, then moved them to keep cops guessing and make it impossible to route traffic around them. These served a dual role: they punished those who commute to the IMF and World Bank by car for their role in subsidizing fossil fuels, and they kept the media from speculating about other targets. All known media reports as of just before go-time mentioned only the IMF and World Bank blockades, none mentioned BlackRock by name.

All the same, it was clear that BlackRock knew protesters were coming: they sent their first floor workers home and locked up well in advance of the blockades, with only a few workers on the second floor. This of course means BlackRock loses the day's "match" by a forfeit. With the lobby locked up, the initial team of protesters that charged from the march to BlackRock simply set a blockade at the (locked) front doors, arriving ahead of the cops. On Dec 6, the "intersectional" theme of the otherwise climate-focussed march was migrant justice. Due to the BlackRock's investments in concentration camps for migrant children, Never Again Action bottomlined a second blockade of BlackRock's parking garage. On top of all else, reports emerged of graffiti left inside the building.

The cops for the most part focussed on protecting Well Fargo, possibly hoping to use the mostly empty BlackRock building as bait. This didn't work, as protesters doubled back to a second Wells Fargo branch they had passed on the approach march and locked down in front of the doors. The lockboxes were "tootsie rolls," not easily cut with simple tools. The Fire Department looked at them, then backed off. Cops ended up having to wait out the blockade at Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo was a knowable target, as they seem to get hit every time for the "outlier" extent of their behavior, their awful investments, and outright fraud against accountholders such as the fake accounts they were caught setting up a few years back.

As for Blackrock, they have lost $90 BILLION on their fossil fuel investments in recent years. Coal company Peabody and big oil companies like Exxon-Mobil were responsibe for much of the losses according to the Guardian's report. If BlackRock won't listen to protests, maybe they will listen to angry shareholders who want to know what the HELL happened to their retirement money.