Two arrested, released with ‘disrupting public meeting’ charges after march on WSU police station
CEO, “still on the loose,” spent 22 years with Goldman Sachs, under investigation by DOJ
Videos: Occupy Chicago disrupts Walker’s talk; Occupy Oakland strikes; Occupy Pittsburgh People of Color Working Group expresses solidarity
By Diane Bukowski
November 7, 2011
OD protester Joe McGuire is handcuffed after being hauled out of Niederauer taping Nov. 2, 2011
DETROIT – Occupy Detroit protesters sustained their first arrests Nov. 2 as they confronted one of the highest level criminal banksters on Wall Street and in the world, Duncan Neiderauer, during a taped interview at Wayne State University (WSU).
Joe McGuire and Susan Ross stood up in the audience at two intervals to demand to know why Neiderauer is not in prison. They were promptly hauled off by WSU police in handcuffs. Occupy Detroiters then took the streets in a militant march to WSU police headquarters to demand their release.
“I would like to know if you guys have some code word that you use with the police to avoid going to jail for your crimes?” McGuire asked Neiderauer only minutes into the taping. He was sitting in the front row of an audience of about 40 people.
Duncan Neiderauer calling the shots on Wall Street
As WSU cops handcuffed McGuire behind the Maccabees Building, where the taping was held, he said, “I requested an attorney and invoked my right to remain silent,” he said. Unphased, he added, “I’m going to call my mom too.”
Ironically, McGuire himself just passed the bar, having graduated from WSU’s Law School. The officers would not say why they were arresting him.
Susan Reed thanks protesters as Joe McGuire listens, after they were freed
About 15 minutes later, Susan Reed stood up to tell Neiderauer that he needed to be held accountable for the Wall Street meltdown. She was similarly hauled out in handcuffs, with word of her arrest reaching the marchers as they got to the police station.
Attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild Detroit chapter represented them, and they were eventually released with “disorderly conduct” charges.
Neiderauer has been CEO of NYSE Euronext, which owns the New York Stock Exchange and four European stock markets, the first global equities exchange, since 2007. NYSE Euronext is in merger talks with Deutsche Börse, owner of the main German stock market as well as the Eurex derivatives exchange. The merger would make it the world’s largest stock exchange operation with a $15 trillion total capitalization of listed companies.
Occupy Detroiters take the street to the WSU police station
“We are moving forward with our merger with Deutsche Boerse and have just recently conducted a hearing before the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission,” Neiderauer said in a Nov. 3 release.
“. . . .given the strong prospects for growth for investors as a result of our proposed merger and the company’s current valuation, we recently announced a plan to acquire up to $100 million in stock in the fourth quarter, as part of our Board authorized stock buy-back program.”
Graeme Irvine, editor of Currency Countdown, had a different take in a Nov. 7 article (http://www.currencycountdown.com/2011/11/lir-insolvent.html .)
Ross Hill Academy students at bus stop cheer protesters on
“The [Wall Street] journal this morning raises the prospect that most of Europe’s banks are actually insolvent,” Irvine said. “ Still holding on to ‘assets,’ sovereign debt and failed US ‘triple-A’ mortgage securities, that need to be written down to reality. To which all I would say is so are the giant American banks. Still being allowed to mark assets to the fantasy model and pretend everything is normal. It’s in large measure why banks won’t or can’t lend to each other. If my books aren’t real yours probably aren’t either. Since the banksters fear that the system can’t be fixed and the banking model must be changed, it’s why they continue looting the system for all its worth while they can.”
Neiderauer spent 22 years, from 1985 until 2007, as a managing partner of Goldman Sachs, currently under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for “looting the system,” to use Irvine’s term.
Protesters marched at police station until Joe and Susan were released
The company is named in a 635 page report from the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse. The report alleges that Goldman Sachs misled investors, profiting from the collapse of the mortgage markets at its’ clients’ expense. The alleged crimes involved collaterized debt obligations (CDO’s) which Goldman Sachs sold to investors, then bet short on them.
Matt D. calls to marchers after cops arrested him; marchers chanted "Let him go!"
The actions took place from 2004-2oo8, during Neiderauer’s tenure. The company has also been implicated in creating the 2005-2008 world “food bubble,” during which food prices skyrocketed, by creating the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI). Some say Goldman Sachs profited while people across the world went hungry or even starved.
In 2010, Goldman Sachs was charged with civil fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It settled the lawsuit for $550 million, which the SEC termed the largest commission penalty to date for a Wall Street firm. But it was later referred for criminal investigation by the DOJ, which is still ongoing.
Protesters crowded sidewalk until cops freed Matt
The Nov. 2 taping was part of a series, “Leaders on Leadership,” produced by the WSU School of Business Administration in partnership with WTVS Channel 56, and hosted by Larry Fotes, After the disruptions, Fotes and Neiderauer finished taping, but the show, which was to be aired live and archived, is not currently on websites for WSU and WTVS.
Police were on the ready as audience members, who had pre-registered for the event, came in. However, no announcement was made prior to the taping warning audience members that they could not speak. They were only told to turn off their cell-phones and refrain from “rustling papers.”
Demonstrator reflects general sentiments on march
After McGuire’s arrest, dozens of Occupy Detroiters marched from the Maccabees Building down Cass Avenue to the police headquarters.
Chanting,“Whose streets? Our Streets,” “Where Wayne State students are under attack, stand up, fight back” and “This is what a police state looks like,” they took over both sides of the street, blocking traffic. They were dogged by numerous police cars, which eventually included Detroit police.
Police arrested Matt Dwiecielicz during the march, but ticketed him for loitering and released him after marchers gathered around chanting, “Let him go! Let him go!”
At the station, marchers chanted “Let Joe Go!” and “Let Susie Go!” as students at a bus stop across the street, who said they were from the Ross Hill Academy, cheered them on.
Joe rallies crowd after release from detention
On his release, McGuire said, “This moment is just a beginning. We want more people to realize that we need to stop people like this from coming to our school. We didn’t cause the economic crisis, Wall Street and companies like Goldman Sachs did.”
Matt Lockwood, WSU’s director of communications, said the two were arrested for “disrupting a public meeting,” a misdemeanor, but did not explain how the meeting was public, since pre-registration was necessary. He falsely claimed that the audience was warned against disruption before the meeting.
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