Iowa protesters call on Wells Fargo to divest from pipeline project

Opponents of the Dakota Access pipeline brought their battle to the banks Monday, specifically to a Wells Fargo branch in downtown Des Moines.

After marching down Walnut Street from the Simon Estes Amphitheater, about 35 members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement rallied outside Wells Fargo's branch at 666 Walnut St. Holding banners and passing around a megaphone, the group demanded that the bank rescind its financial backing of the project.

"Wells Fargo’s investment is seeing farmland ripped up across this state. Wells Fargo's investment is making sure that the Des Moines River and the Mississippi River are put at risk," said Kari Carney with the Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition. "It's only a matter of time before Wells Fargo's investment ensures we don't have drinking water."

Monday's demonstration was just the latest attempt at undermining the 1,172-mile pipeline, which will run through the Dakotas, Iowa and Illinois. The opposition has coalesced around members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, whose North Dakota encampment serves as the political and spiritual heart of the movement.

Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2016/10/10/iowa-protesters-call-wells-fargo-divest-pipeline-project/91862508/