FORKS — Seventeen people “occupied” Forks over the weekend, standing in front of the Bank of America branch Saturday in pouring rain.
“We got a lot of thumbs up and honking,” said Occupy Forks organizer Patt Doyle.
“We only got one finger, and one thumbs down.
Doyle and friend Linda Middleton organized the Occupy Forks protest in support of the national movement of the “99 percent” — purportedly the regular working population — in protest of corporate influence on the U.S. government.
The location was selected because Bank of America has the only large corporate presence in Forks, she said.
The branch will close in January as part of a wave of corporate service center closures across the U.S.
The protest isn’t against the people who work inside, most of whom will be laid off when the branch closes, Doyle said.
“They’re totally the 99 percent,” she said.
The turnout of 17 was better than Doyle had hoped, considering the size of the town and the bad weather, she said.
There were several older people who sat in their cars nearby who showed up for the protest and stayed to support it but were unable to withstand the elements, she said.
A second Occupy Forks rally is planned for noon Nov. 26 at the same location, Doyle said.
The second rally will be in support of a planned Nov. 27 rally in Olympia aimed at state legislators meeting that week for an emergency budget session.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
