More than 100 Occupy Wall Street-affiliated protesters invaded a courtroom inside the Brooklyn Supreme Court yesterday afternoon in an effort to disrupt foreclosure auctions, the Brooklyn Paper reported. Police arrested a total of 37 people, who received summonses for disorderly conduct. As previously reported, this is not the first time such a demonstration has happened.
The reason for their gathering centered on their belief that foreclosures are unfair to homeowners.
“We are calling for a moratorium on all foreclosures until some accountable and equitable process is developed,” said Walter Hergt, a protest planner with Organizing for Occupation, to the Brooklyn Paper. “The fact is that the banks were bailed out — we find that to be unacceptable.”
Though the arrests did in fact prevent some auctions from proceeding, the paper reported that many auctions did go through, but the number was not specified.
Protesters told the paper that they considered yesterday’s demonstration a victory. However, not everyone shared this opinion.
“They really accomplished zero,” a man who works in the court told the paper. “All the sales that could go still went. And all this stupidity is just disrupting people trying to do their job.” [Brooklyn Paper]