A New York City preacher was arrested after placing a 'holy hex' on JPMorgan Chase.
Protesting what he calls JPMorgan's financing for mountaintop removal in Appalachia, Rev. Billy Talen led his Church Of Life congregation in an Easter morning protest outside of a bank branch in New York City. Courthouse News has the details:
"Rev. Billy led his Life After Shopping Gospel Choir to two East Village Chase branches, where the singers "deposited" mounds of "sacred dirt from Coal River Mountain, West Virginia" on the floors of ATM lobbies.
At the branch on St. Marks Place and 2nd Avenue, the choir performed a "mystery channeling of money" as bank customers withdrew money, and the reverend/performance artist preached to a crowd through a white megaphone."
The bank's financing of "mountaintop removal" -- the controlled deforestation and detonation of upper parts of mountains to access coal deposits -- has been widely critizied by environmental advocates. In the past two decades, JPMorgan has underwritten 20 huge bond deals to help support the practice, Mother Jones noted last month.
On Rev. Talen's website he lays out his case against the bank:
We are joining thousands of activist citizens who have opposed the removal of peaks in Appalachia for "dirty coal" mining. In resisting Consumerism, there is always an earth-justice motive, right in front of us. We remember leading Iceland citizens into their own super malls to oppose the big dams and aluminum smelters; and we recall opposing the super ferry in Kauai; and also singing to tree-sitters up in the redwoods.
Check out Courthouse News's full piece here.