Environmentalists Deface Nearly 100 ATMs With Anti-Bank Messages
- Posted on January 16, 2012 at 11:14am by
Liz Klimas
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Last week, the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) — a group whose slogan is “environmentalism with teeth” — launched a Tumblr site with The New Bottom Line called Bankrupting America. The group states the site is a place to show “the worst of the [Bank of America's] deeds, personal stories of those that have been hurt by the company and what everyday people are doing to fight back.”
It seems some have already started to fight back. Late last week, 85 Bank of America ATMs in the San Francisco area were defaced with stickers that looked like the usual touch-screen interface but had different options that turned the machine into what RAN called “Automated Truth Machines.” According to RAN’s Understory, the sticker provided ATM users with transaction options such as “Invest in coal-fired power plants“ and ”Foreclose on America’s homes” instead of things like withdrawal cash or deposit checks. Understory states that the stickers also told customers to “Stop doing business with Bank of America until they start behaving responsibly.”
Environmental action group changed the options on Bank of America ATMs. (Image: Understory)
Bank of America ATMs in the San Francisco area affected by the new decals. (Image: Understory)
In addition to touting this action, RAN has also featured stories on its Tumblr site that include the following headlines and photos:
- BofA took my mom’s house
- Bank of America or Bank of Greed
- BofA charges $27 for late fee over 1 cent
- Home without mortgage almost foreclosed by Bank of America
- Oh, the Irony! Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta Faces Foreclosure
(Image: Bankrupting America.Tumblr)
(Image: Bankrupting America.Tumblr)
“Communities everywhere are fed up with Bank of America for putting profits before people and that’s what this new blog is all about,” said Amanda Starbuck, director of RAN’s Energy and Finance program, in the release. “Whether it’s the fact that the company bankrolls climate change through coal investments or forecloses on America’s homeowners while paying top executives millions in bonuses, these are all symptoms of the bank’s lack of morality.”
According to the release, RAN’s overarching goal is to “break North America’s fossil fuels addiction, protect endangered forests and Indigenous rights and stop destructive investments.” The New Bottom Line is coalition of community organizations, congregations and individuals seeking to “challenge established big bank interests on behalf of struggling and middle-class communities.”
[H/T Gizmodo]
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Comments (41)
no1hd
Posted on January 17, 2012 at 10:14amBanks are banks..They cannot take away anything that belongs to you..When you put an item up as collateral, it is not yours and until it is not collateral they can, will and should take it if you have/are not fulfilling your agreement..Sad, ain’t it..
Report Post »Vitalissue
Posted on January 17, 2012 at 7:56amenviroMENTAList do not help their cause by defacing ATMs
Report Post »momsense
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 7:01pmThis just proves what I’ve said all along–the EPA is a domestic terrorist organization.
Report Post »Vitalissue
Posted on January 17, 2012 at 7:49amThe EPA will sabotage anything to get their way…here in NY they have opened up sewage pipes into the Hudson river to make a point of cleaning up the river which doesn’t need to be cleaned. The EPA are the worst of environmentalist and should be locked away for a long time.
Report Post »georgepatton
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 6:54pmFire up the wood chipper boys!
Report Post »Bonnieblue2A
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 6:44pmWhy aren’t these people protesting in front of Robert Rubins home and infront of the Governement Sachs controlled White House? Don’t they know that it was the Clinton Administration, Rubins specifically, that pushed foreward the legislation to make the theft of wealth from the middle class via the derivatives trade.
Report Post »georgepatton
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 6:41pmenviro-MENTAL
RED-DIAPER-DOPER- BABIES,GREEN ON THE OUTSIDE /RED ON THE INSIDE.
Report Post »yooperjo
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 6:37pmI wish these people would put the same effort into protesting the number of birds killed by wind farms!
Report Post »Vitalissue
Posted on January 17, 2012 at 7:51amDITTO on that…EPA stop killing our birds and our Bats….
Report Post »thebabyguy
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 6:03pmSee, this is where Sharia Law could work for us. Catch these a ss clowns defacing property and chop their hands off right there, right then. Of course there will then be less cases of twinkles (or whatever those Occupy morons call it) going around.
Report Post »pamela kay
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 5:40pmAnd this makes the environmentalist better? Just who do they think will pay for the damages?When they behave as though they have morals maybe someone could swallow this propoganda. To shut down this country and shove the progressive agenda down our throats without the concern of human rights or the respect of the existance of a free country at any cost is not showing they have morals. Without any compassion for the suffering they have caused to our society and its people shows complete lack of morals.The EPA needs to be shut down and a new REGULATED and monitored system needs to be put in its place. Each state should have their own which would be in accordance to what the citizens of that state have the right to VOTE for themselves.
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 7:44pmSounds good to me.
Report Post »jado1981
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 5:12pmHeaven forbid Bank of America try to make a profit… those a-holes! If I hadn’t dropped those guys for a local credit union and perkstreet, I’d be back there to support them vs. the stupid green hippies. However, I don’t borrow money, so it‘s not like they’d be really excited about getting to use the little bit of money I leave in the bank anyhow.
Report Post »2theADDLED
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 6:25pmI wonder who put this idea in their heads ? I remember someone who recently said ATM’s stole jobs.
Report Post »He is a inciter who encourages this type of behavior ?
jado1981
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 11:36pmOh wow, good point, I forgot about those ATM basterds that have put so many tellers out of a job. They are just as bad as the print edition news that put the wire telegraph people out of business. We should all demand that they pay some sort of fine for stealing their jobs!!! GM and Ford should pay some kind of new fine since they killed the horse and buggy.
The inciter really hasn’t said much against the astroturf resistance that has popped up recently, but they couldn’t help but badmouth the completely crazy tea-partiers when they were the main story. (please note the sarcasm, I am one of those tea-partiers). In fact, they have been siding with the ows garbage, remember Princess “God bless the occupiers” Nancy? I’ll bet you dollars to donuts, he won’t say a thing about them, he is counting on 4 votes per occupier this November.
Report Post »SpaceRaider
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 4:31pmYou know, I had to take care of plenty of people similar to this while working at a hospital. Both in the mediacl and psychological units. These people are dangerous and from my psychological analysis, usually dangerously psychotic. Do not underestimate them. I would also advise that you prepare and be ready to defend yourselves.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 4:29pmWhile I do happen to hate Bank of America because it is a horrible business…. The act of defacing ATM’s by environmentalists is ridiculous. For starters, if a person needs cash and the defacing of the ATM is so bad that it cannot be used, this will lead to an increase in the use of automobiles and increased CO2 production that the envirowhackos can’t seem to understand is natural and good. Also, the ATM’s are private property and these idjuts should be arrested on charges of defacing/ destruction of private property.
Report Post »closte
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 4:02pmLooking at the pic of the ATM…I’m okay with all of those…
Investing in coal-fired power plants: Great! Cheaper, viable fuel! Until the private sector can come up with a better, more viable, and cheaper alternative that isn’t mandated–I’ll give it a look.
Foreclose on homes: If folks can’t repay debts…bummer. There are consequences for everything. I‘d rather a foreclosure than my tax money paying for someone’s mortgage.
Climate change: I’ve yet to see any substantial proof that anything anyone (including BoA) does would affect this.
Fund executive bonuses: Anyone care to address Solyndra and the bonuses executives get there? Bonuses aren’t evil. However, if a company’s not funding itself (i.e. taking bailout money, etc), it has no business giving bonuses to anyone. Period.
Report Post »ICanComment
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 4:22pmGreat. Another list of alleged crimes designed to tug at one’s emotions.
Formula:
1. Select a person or entity you don’t like
2. Selectively pick things they’ve done that _could_ be construed as evil or bad, even if the truth is stretched. (only a little bit)
3. Word selective list of things in such a way that it makes people so angry that they don‘t stop to think about what’s being said, or better yet, not being said.
You could use this formula on anyone or anything and come up with all sorts of crazy allegations like, “he just wants to push grandma over a cliff!“ or ”that company specializes in killing baby seals!” or, because senior management received a bonus of any kind, “they give executives bonuses with YOUR money!”
Oh, yeah – lest we forget, defacing property of the selected person or entity only makes you look more honorable and credible. (sarcasm font)
Now, before someone runs all over the place and claims I’m defending BoA, for the record, I personally can’t stand them as a company. I just happen to think that two lefts don’t make a right. (…but three do.)
Report Post »teapartyguardian
Posted on January 17, 2012 at 7:25amIcancomment, sounds like Saul alinsky tactics. A favored tactic of the current occupythewhitehouse.
Report Post »objectivetruth
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 3:55pmIt seems the enviromentalist extremists are at it again.This time they coopted the banks consumer base.Banks, every day, make legal but unethical decisions.When its to their own customerbase, they usually find themselves in a pinch.Eventually they won’t have a customerbase.It usually works itself out.Capitalism at work.This is probaly why the enviromental extremists coopted them.They don’t have a chance and like rats, they cling to a dying ship.
Report Post »thefbj
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 3:37pmWho do these folks think use ATM machines? Middle class people and the 99%
Vandalizing many of SF’s ATM machines is a thoughtless and foolish act.
Report Post »Grillmark55
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 3:06pmI agree with the stickers. Just last week I was walking down the street and a Bank of America ATM jumped out at me from behind a bush and DEMANDED that I pay a service charge. And, that was after I was unjustly foreclosed on after missing only 20 house payments on the $500,000 home that I was forced to buy on my $35,000 per year job. And those coal-fired power plants that BofA invests in; everybody knows that solar power is the way to go – isn’t that why Obama invested in Solyndra for us? And really, executives shouldn’t be the only ones that get bonuses. Just yesterday I was asked “Would you like to supersize that?” and I said yes. Now THERE is a guy that deserves an big fat raise! He really knows how to make millions for the company!
Report Post »Marsh626
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 3:02pmJust goes to show that the “Greens” are really “Reds”. The environmental movement is a trojan horse being used to overthrow capiatlism and Western civilization. Show them the same hostility they show you.
Report Post »jado1981
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 5:18pmI hope they workers that have to clean up after the greenie turds are driving old diesel trucks. Leave the diesels idling while they use cfc cleaners to spray on the screen and then use non-recycled paper towel to wipe the screen clean, and then throw the paper away in a non-biodegradable plastic trash bag.
Report Post »Uechi
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 2:45pmWhat gives these so called :environmentalists the right to destroy property, whether it is an individuals or a companies? Did they get permission from the Earth Goddess? Does this mean if I hate these POS animals that I can go to where they live and damage or destroy some of their possessions. This is nothing but “Thugocracy” and the results will end in blood, probably theirs?
Report Post »sillyfreshness
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 2:30pmI think those were funny stickers. Why anyone would have their money in Bank of America is beyond me. They are constantly in the news about some crap they are always trying to pull. The last was charging a $5 monthly fee for the “privilege” of using them. Why not just use a local credit union which is member owned? When it comes to someone making money off me, I’d rather have it reinvested in the institution I do business with rather than it be distributed to some anonymous stock shareholders like banks do.
Report Post »SidneyDave
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 3:06pmThose “anonymous stock shareholders” are the ones that provide the bank with capital to loan you money. You better brush up on capitalism and how banks work before you make a statement like you made.
Report Post »THXll38
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 3:23pmI think you should educate yourself on the banking system, SidneyDave. Most, if not all banks use some form of Fractional-reserve banking. If anyone else attempted to do this, they would be arrested and go to jail.
Report Post »objectivetruth
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 4:00pmTo previous posters
Report Post »I think she may have meant shareholders of local origin, rather than out of state ,out of country.I think that was why she choose the word anonymous.Less to do with ignorance than eloquence.You are so right though, about fractional banking.If we tried that, well, jail would be our home.
EqualJustice
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 2:29pmhttp://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2009/01/14/fortune.sl.tarp.011409.fortune/ .Troubled “ASSEST RELIEF” – how did they GET all those? From Barny Frank and CO, Fannie and Freddie! THIS is what they said in July, 2009! POSITIVE signs… hahahahaha http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/26/markets/sunday_weekahead/index.htm
Report Post »EqualJustice
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 2:29pmhttp://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2009/01/14/fortune.sl.tarp.011409.fortune/ .Troubled “ASSEST RELIEF” – how did they GET all those? From Barny Frank and CO, Fannie and Freddie! THIS is what they said in July, 2009! POSITIVE signs… hahahahaha http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/26/markets/sunday_weekahead/index.htm
Report Post »Zen Patriot
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 1:58pm“BofA charges $27 for late fee over 1 cent” — true and very stupid. The real problem with banks however, is the Federal Reserve. Vandalism is wrong, and makes you look like the idiots you apparently are.
Report Post »objectivetruth
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 4:05pmYeah I considered having them as a bank years ago.I heard to many horror stories like this.Decided not to use them for my bank .Good decision on my part.The horror stories have only gotten worse and more pronounced.
Report Post »michael48
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 1:51pmenviro-illnes??? with teeth???? or chicken lips???…. can’t wait for occupy an ATM…public crap houses…
Report Post »zman173rd
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 1:36pmI recall Bank of America (or is it Bank of Mexico) gave free checking to ILLEGAL ALIENS. it allowed them to have debit cards they could send to thier families in Mexico. Then those in Mexico could withdraw the US dollars “earned’ (some under the table untaxed) by mexican illegals here in the US. No money was taxed because they deposited real dollars, not checks. I have no sympathy for Bank of America. Karma, what goes around… Yes they also serve a usefull purpose but you should also listen to Dave Ramsey when he compares large banks to one another and BOF comes out last.
Report Post »Kitkarr
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 1:34pm“…the bank’s lack of morality.”
Hmm… Interesting take on the situation.
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