the burning of the isla vista bank america (1970)

in 1970, protesters in the college town of isla vista, california, burned down the local branch of the bank of america. it was the height of the anti-war movement here in the united states...

the following is a slideshow from islavista.org, produced by malcolm gault-williams.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• bank
• of
• america
• anti-war
• movement
• 1970
• vietnam
• war
• protests
• protest
• revolution
• student
• uprisings
• anarchism

[hkins]

I came to UCSB the quarter after the Bank burned. The people I knew thought the B of A was targeted primarily because it was one of the major banks shoring up the Vietnam War--a large branch was in Saigon. It was part of the corporate war structure which also included Dow Chemical Co., the sole producer of napalm and Agent Orange.

Mis-characterizing the antiwar demonstrators as know-nothing party-goers or a small minority of the campus is re-writing history. I was there; I know.

[FuckYouLetMeLogIn]

Time to do it again. Only with EVERY big bank in the world. The era of the banks exploiting the 99% needs to end.

[smokey1970vietnam]

I remember very well. The GOON squad from L.A. put me in the brand new S.B. County Jail that night. Thank you sheriff Honey. It was for a good cause.

[patfromlogan]

According to Cril Payne, author of Deep Cover, a history of his career in the FBI, the charge of "students" that resulted in the burning of the Bank of America was a Cointelpro FBI operation.

[kellyrishor]

@viking6834 I also lived there then and remember this riot well, even though I was only 11 years old.

[BristolPalinsBabyDad]

Time to bring back this kind of spirit.

[WinnemuccaFlash]

narrated by Steve Sellman. An interesting note about Steve is that he was not allergic to tear gas. He was the only person who could report live from a cloud of tear gas in the streets of Isla Vista.

[penfifteen666]

I saw many a good concert in that building: Fugazi, Social Distortion, Babes in Toyland, Ween, Tool, Faith No More, Alice in Chains.

[viking6834]

I was a student at UCSB at the time. I would guess maybe 10-20 students were involved in the burning, with others assisting. No, I wasn't there but saw it burn from a few blocks away. It was chosen, apparently, because it was the biggest symbol of capitalism in the small community, not for anything wrong the bank did. It was all a propaganda exercise by a small group of individuals who did not represent either the university or the student community.

[punkrockdrummer]

you dont have to be sorry for the truth, f*ck the government.