Country ... USA
Guns

Occupy Wall Street ... Protest in support of investment divestment in gun sector

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Search #OCCUPY WALL STREET ... NYC GENERAL ASSEMBLY OCCUPY THE NRA’S HEDGE FUND DIVESTMENT CAMPAIGN EVENT Date/Time: Date(s) - 03/18/2013 Time 12:00 pm Location: Owl Creek Asset Management ... 640 5th Ave ... New York Owl Creek Asset Management 640 5th Ave New York, NY 10019 Occupy the NRA (ONRA) is launching a long­term social action campaign to hold Wall Street firms accountable for their investments in gun manufacturers. We will push these firms to divest their stocks in these blood­soaked companies, hitting them where it hurts most, namely, their bottom line.

After the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, CT, we will no longer sit by and watch these greedy firms grow more prosperous off the backs of murdered young children.

On March 18th, 2013, we will use direct actions in the Occupy tradition against Blackstone, Cerberus & Owl Creek Asset Management (OCAM). We chose these firms because they either own millions of dollars of holdings in gun manufacturers’ stock or bought stock as a direct result of the Sandy Hook massacre.

All of these firms are within three blocks of each other in Midtown Manhattan.

Cerberus is the biggest holder of gun stocks, followed by Blackstone as a close second.

Although Cerberus has committed to divesting its gun portfolio, it is unclear that its executives have followed through with their promise. Our goal is to move them to act, now.

Blackstone has made no indication that it intends to divest. We want the firm to make a commitment to divest, now.

OWL CREEK ASSET MANAGEMENT, however, unabashedly bought its gun stocks after the Newtown massacre in a cold­blooded attempt to profit from gun sales even as the country mourned the victims of Sandy Hook. We will expose this vile approach to profit from death.

Hedge funds and their investments are generally unknown to the public­at­large, due to this they have been able to operate with impunity. We will change that.

These actions will be accompanied by a social media campaign, which will employ the use of the hashtags below. We will be asking our allies to highlight their use throughout social media: #profitfrommurder #silentnomore #momentofnoise ACTION PLAN

1. 1. Meet at the Midtown offices of OWL CREEK ASSET MANAGEMENT (OCAM) on March 18th at 11:30 am, when employees will be at work: Address: 640 5th Ave #20, New York, NY 10019 Phone:(212) 688­2550 Transit: 5 Av/53 St (Meet March 18th, @ 11:30 am)
2. 2. 12:00 pm NOON begin a nationwide moment of noise at OCAM.
3. 3. Walk five blocks, visit BLACKSTONE GROUP, and CERBERUS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT to further disrupt business.

We invite participants to bring pots & pans, whistles, horns, etc.. and generally anything noisy for a #momentofnoise #silentnomore planned at NOON. Our message: We will be silent no more in the face of the wholesale murder of our children while the gun industry, hedge fund managers and Wall Street banks profit off the carnage of our children. We will be silent no more in the face of 30 American gun deaths per day.

ONRA will continue the campaign targeting other such firms. Our goal is to cause a ripple effect throughout the hedge fund industry. We want firms to think twice before investing in gun stock and encourage the remaining firms to divest what they have.

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