Tar Sands protestors storm TD Bank, Valero, 5 arrests at Valero and 25 at the White House

From DCIndymedia: On the 21st of March, Rising Tide DC backed by Chesapeake Earth First and area street activists marched from the "Klanadian Embassy" to TD Bank and Valero, both of them tar sands profiteers.TD Bank is the largest commercial lender, and Valero Energy the largest committed customer for the tar sands pipeline.

Another group of activists staged a civil disobediance at the White House, also against the Keystone XL. Twenty-five of them were arrested.

At TD Bank, activists were able to momentarily get control of the doors and get a few people inside before cops very aggressively regained control of the doors and pushed everyone back. This was the second mission against TD Bank in three days by DC opponents of the Keystone XL.

After TD Bank, protesters marched on 601 Penn, an upscale office space rental building where Valero Energy has an office. It has been reported that without Valero-s contract the Keystone XL would not have gotten off the drawing board. All corporations with offices in 601 Penn should be aware that they share space with a very bad neighbor and that brings consequences,

This time around, security guards failed to react as the doors were held open and the entire march swarmed inside. Once police managed to follow, they became rough and violent to some of the protesters in the act of forcing them back out. Five protesters refused to leave in spite of the police violence, staging a sit-in in the lobby. They stood their ground and had to be arrested one by one after a delay of about an hour.

All of this is in solidarity with the folks of Tar Sands Blockade and others directly blocking construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.