Three Protests Scheduled for Center City This Afternoon

Protesters in Philadelphia last week | Photo: Dan McQuade

Three protests are scheduled for Friday afternoon in Center City.

The first protest is scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. outside the main Wells Fargo branch in Philadelphia at 123 South Broad Street. It’s being called “Stop Funding Genocide.” Wells Fargo has more than $400 million invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline, and protesters today will call for the bank to pull out of the project (and for the city to remove its business with Wells Fargo if the company doesn’t). It’s being organized by Philly Rising Tide, an anti-fossil-fuel-energy group.

The second protest is also at 3, and is scheduled to go until 5. Per Alert Philadelphia, Philadelphia school students will gather at the north side of City Hall to protest “Trump’s Unfair Treatment of Muslims.”

The third protest is scheduled for 4 p.m. outside 1628 JFK Boulevard (8 Penn Center), the location of Pat Toomey’s Philadelphia office. It’s to protest Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos, who opponents say is unqualified for the job. Toomey says he is a “big fan” of DeVos and will be voting for her confirmation. DeVos advanced to a full confirmation vote in a Senate vote early this morning.

If you drove into Center City this morning, you may want to ditch work a little early. Or join the protests and leave later, if that’s your kind of thing.