Occupy Atlanta Shuts Down Chase Branch

Earlier this morning at around 9:30AM, eight people (The Chase Eight) participated in a sit-in at Chase Bank in the Edgewood Retail District. One of the occupiers arrested was Carmen Pittman. The action shut down the bank. They refused to leave, and about 15 cop cars and a prisoner transport vehicle circled the bank.  The police caution-taped the bank entrance off, pulled down the blinds, zip tied the protesters, and proceeded to drag them out one by one. The scene drew a crowd of about 30 people who were shocked that all of this commotion was due to a sit-in, and were angered by such excessive police force & presence–some police refused to identify themselves. The police then told the crowd they must leave the Edgewood Retail District property or face arrest. We were also told that we were not allowed to flyer cars that passed by and asked what was happening. Some protesters who were not arrested followed the prisoner transport vehicle to ensure that those arrested were safe. A police car was staged in-between those concerned and those in the prisoner transport vehicle so following them became increasingly difficult. They were taken to the Dekalb County Sheriff’s Headquarters on Memorial Drive. – by Carter Moore