Eleven protesters armed with a giant check for $673 billion were arrested Thursday at a Bank of America location downtown, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Five women and six men were arrested on suspicion of trespassing, said LAPD Officer Richard French. Bail was set at $5,000 a person, according to the LAPD.
"They presented a check to the Bank of America, and they made it out to the American people. It was a gesture," said French.
The oversized check to the "People of California" was in the amount of $673 billion.
Once inside the bank, demonstrators chanted, "make banks pay" and also screamed, according to video recorded by Jesse Luna.
BoA security detained the protesters and then LAPD took them into custody. Aerial video showed police escorting some of the protesters out of the bank in hand cuffs.
The bank sit-in capped a march organized by the ReFund California campaign, a statewide effort that its leaders say is designed to force banks to keep families in homes, pay their fair share of taxes and help rebuild hard-hit neighborhoods.
About 500 people participated in Thursday’s march, including some members of Occupy LA, a loosely organized group of people camping outside City Hall since Oct. 1 as part of a nationwide series of demonstrations.
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Some of the marchers blocked the intersection of Seventh and Figueroa streets.
Seven of the 15 Los Angeles City Council members have signed a resolution to support "peaceful and vibrant exercise in First Amendment Rights carried out by 'Occupy Los Angeles.'"
Hundreds of demonstrators have been camping on or near Wall Street in New York City since Sept. 17. As many as 700 people have been arrested since then.
The Los Angeles city resolution calls for a vote on a "responsible banking" measure by Oct. 28. It would require the city to divest from banks and financial institutions that have not cooperated with efforts to prevent foreclosures.
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