ACT UP Chains Themselves Across Wall Street In AIDS Funding Protest

Nine members of ACT UP have just chained themselves across Wall Street as the opening bell rang on New York Stock Exchange floor. Protesters are demanding that a tax be added to all stock transactions in order to fund HIV/AIDS treatments worldwide. The above photo was sent to us from the phone of famed NYC club promoter Chip Duckett. Stand by for developments...

UPDATE: Arrests began immediately.UPDATE II: A press release was just issued.

Activists kicking off action for ACT UP’s 25th Anniversary chained themselves to the entrance to Wall Street’s Stock Exchange just moments before the opening bell this morning. 10 were arrested. AIDS Activists demand a Financial Speculation Tax, a tiny tax on speculative financial transactions that would raise up to $350 billion in the United States annually to fund 15 million people on treatment by 2015 and lead to an eventual end to the AIDS pandemic. The activists had business suits, which allowed them to blend in downtown, but then donned bandit masks and Robin Hood hats. The international campaign for a Financial Speculation Tax has often been called the “Robin Hood Tax Campaign.” “The Financial Speculation Tax Wall Street can afford this extremely tiny tax on the ‘casino economy’ transactions that contributed to the recession. People with AIDS need that money to restore draconian budget cuts to put us on track to end the AIDS pandemic,” said activist Megan Mulholland.