Occupy-Linked Protesters Toss $5,000 in Bills Off Seattle Building

Occupy-linked activists rained $5,000 in bills off a downtown Seattle building Wednesday to protest money in politics.

#MicCheckWallSt, an affiliate of Occupy Seattle, held its "4th of July Money Drop" to "[declare] independence from Citizens United," the landmark Supreme Court ruling lifting restrictions on corporate and union campaign spending.

Video posted online shows stacks of bills emblazoned with the words "Money as speech silences us all" and "End Citizens United" being unloaded from a duffel bag and set up beside a window. A voice says "Go" and two people begin hurling the money out the window, the bills fluttering toward the ground. According to the Guardian, the bills thrown were mostly ones and fives.

"Money is the new tea," #MicCheckWallSt stated on its website. In throwing bills onto the street, "the money will naturally go back into general circulation. As it passes from hand to hand, from one person to the next, it will continue to spread it's [sic] message."

The group had solicited the funds on its website, calling the drop "as much installation art as protest."

"All donations will go directly towards being thrown off a building! And are tax deductible! What more could you ask for?" it stated. A counter on the site indicated the group met its full $5,000 donation goal.

Matthew Toles, a photographer taking pictures of the drop, told the Seattle Times the "shower of money" lasted between five and 15 minutes. He said the wind blew some of the bills onto a bar awning and into an alley, sending people scrambling for cash on windowsills and Dumpster lids.

In a post on its Twitter feed #MicCheckWallSt clarified that their "friends" Occupy Seattle did participate in the money drop, though said some #MicCheckWallSt members are also active Occupiers.

#MicCheckWallSt held a similar money drop on Valentine's Day, stamping bills with the phrase, "Money can't buy love...but can it buy speech?"