In front of the Citizens Bank headquarters in downtown Providence, hundreds gathered Thursday morning to protest the bank’s alleged financing of private prison companies operating federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers. The protest occurred during the bank’s annual shareholder meeting and was organized by the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition, which includes multiple community and student groups including Brown Rise Up.
Equipped with megaphones and signs, demonstrators booed vehicles entering the Citizens Bank complex. Citizens Bank has allegedly provided funding to CoreCivic and GEO Group, two of ICE’s major contractors.
“We’re all out here outside Citizens Bank today to demand they stop financing ICE detention centers,” Raya Gupta ’29, a narrative team co-coordinator for Brown Rise Up, said in a speech at the protest…