In honor of the global month of action in solidarity with Standing Rock, people in Portland assembled to protest executives of some of the largest banks funding the Dakota Access Pipeline. We are no longer going to just show up outside corporate offices or bank branches, asking politely for divestment or threatening to close our bank accounts. No. It is time now to apply pressure directly to those in power. The directors, executives, and decision makers — the people behind the corporate curtain — need to feel the pressure at their doorsteps. They don’t deserve the privilege of solitude and relaxation while hundreds are brutalized by police, have their land stolen and sacred places desecrated, and sacred water threatened with pollution.
So we went to the lavish condo building of Tracy Curtis, the Regional President of Wells Fargo, to pressure her and by extension her company to withdraw the loan made to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Through direct project-level loans and revolving credit provided to the oil and pipeline companies behind the DAPL, Wells Fargo is responsible for nearly $500 million financing the pipeline. Without this and other bank financing, the DAPL would not be able to continue to be built. As Regional President, Tracy Curtis has the power and influence within the company hierarchy to pressure Wells Fargo to divest from the DAPL, and to withdraw all loans that are allowing operations to continue. Without loans, the DAPL would have no capital and the project would come to a halt.
We arrived at her apartment building in the upscale Pearl District neighborhood of Portland (1030 NW 12th Ave, Apt 528, Portland, OR). We tried to reach her through her call box, but no one answered. That was fine, as we just used megaphones and chanting to let her entire neighborhood know that she profits from colonial violence and genocide. Eventually, her neighbors came downstairs and gleefully accepted information about her and Wells Fargo’s involvement in DAPL. It seems she hasn’t made the best impression on the condo building (they claimed she arrogantly acts like she “runs the place”)
After leaving an impression on Tracy, her condo building, and her entire neighborhood, we left to pay a short and silent visit to Michael Hart, Managing Director of MUFG Union Bank. Union Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, one of the primary lenders that facilitated the $2.5 billion loan to the DAPL.
Mr. Hart lives at 3463 SW Doschview Ct, Portland, OR, in a gated community. Those gates didn’t stop us from leaving messages in sidewalk chalk for his entire neighborhood to see. Everyone going in and out of those gates will be greeted by messages telling Michael and his company to pull their loan from the DAPL.
Top executives and decision makers like Tracy Curtis and Michael Hart must be held accountable for the positions they hold. Pressuring them is the most effective way of piercing the corporate facade to pressure these corporations. These actions are easy, take very little time to research, and hardly any resources to plan. Grab a megaphone, make some signs, or just take a bucket of sidewalk chalk and pay a corporate executive a visit. Maybe bring your own supplies and take other, more interesting, creative, and impactful actions. The possibilities are seemingly endless. There is a comprehensive list already online. Pick a target.
Here are other targets for our Portland friends. Be creative and take action. Don’t wait for them to change their hearts and minds. Force them to.
*Note and legal disclaimer, these addresses are for informational and outreach use only and we do not encourage you to break the law.
Wilhelmus Jan Van der Ven
Vice President, Power Operations
Enbridge Energy Partners
5104 SW View Point
Terrace, Portland, OR
Nicholas Murat Williams
Managing Director
Wells Fargo Securities
839 SW Pennoyer St
Portland, OR 97239
Scott Alan Spellmon
Brigadier General,
Commander Northwestern Division
Army Corps of Engineers
8212 NW 16th Ave,
Vancouver, WA 98665
Dr. James J. Hearn
Director Regional
Business Directorate, Northwestern Division
Army Corps of Engineers
950 SW 21st Ave, Apt
1006, Portland, OR
David J. Ponganis
Director of Programs
Northwestern Division
Army Corps of Engineers
2926 SW Fairmount Blvd,
Portland, OR 97239
Colonel Torrey A. DiCiro
Deputy Division Commander
Northwestern Division
Army Corps of Engineers
2825 NW Lacamas Dr,
Camas, WA 98607-7629
Submitted to It’s Going Down
