Protesters gathered in front of the Citizens Bank headquarters in downtown Providence during the bank’s annual shareholder meeting Thursday, demanding that the bank end its business dealings with companies that operate ICE detention facilities.
The rally was part of a larger national protest push against Citizens’ financial ties to CoreCivic and The GEO Group, companies that operate detention facilities.
“They were there in force – shareholders, clergy, unions, local activists, people of all ages, all colors. It was an amazing turnout,” said Peyton Fleming, spokesman for the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition.
At the rally, a union that represents graduate students, doctoral students, postdocs and other workers at Brown University said it planned to close its account at Citizens in protest.
“We’re going to be de-banking from Citizens Bank. We’re pulling out hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Michael Ziegler, president of the AFT-RIFT Local 6516.
Fleming said the rally was a “crescendo moment” after months of organizing around New England.
“That means pulling out hundreds of thousands of dollars from their deposits right away,” Fleming explained.
GEO Group said in January that it had a credit line of $550 million with Citizens, according to reporting from GBH. CoreCivic has borrowed $500 million from the bank.
The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, a coalition of more than 60 religious groups and unions, also announced its intent to pull around $1 million from their Citizens bank accounts if the bank does not end its relationships with CoreCivic and The GEO Group.
After the shareholder meeting, the clergy said the bank’s CEO had agreed to meet with them to discuss their concerns.
“Their response was that they’d be willing to meet, and our response was we would expect that would happen in the next seven days,” the Rev. Ray Hammond, pastor of Bethel AME Church in Boston, said at a press conference following the shareholder meeting.
Hammond explained that the GBIO clergy organization and its members cumulatively have at least $12.7 million of deposits with Citizens.
Peter Lucht, Citizens’ head of media relations, said in a phone interview that the bank does not comment on any of its specific client relationships and would not provide comment on the protesters’ concerns.
Fleming said that people can expect more actions or protests to pressure Citizens soon.
