Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke managed to slip in and out of the Hub without any direct confrontation from the protesters at Occupy Boston yesterday, but the group still voiced their opinions on the big-bank boss.
“Today [Bernanke] spoke with other high level economists. And today … Bernanke is incompetent to handle the challenges posed by the mess he and his colleagues failed to see coming,” protester Nadeem Mazen told a large group of occupiers camping across the street from the Federal Reserve Building.
Bernanke was in town to deliver a keynote speech at the bank’s 56th annual conference.
According to reports, Bernanke was able to go in and out through an entrance unseen by occupiers, who remained mostly docile during the visit.
Prior to his drop-in at the bank building, the Occupy group invited Bernanke to their camp to listen to their “respectful, nonviolent message.”
Bernanke was a no show, but that didn’t stop Mazen and a herd of followers from calling out the Fed’s head.
During his speech, Mazen called Bernanke’s lack of transparency in the financial industry “a house of cards” that won’t last much longer.
“Your system of keeping the people in the dark will not survive Occupy,” he said. “We are turning the lights on.”
Taking down some tarps
A makeshift information center at the entrance of the Occupy Boston site was dismantled by the city’s Department of Public Works yesterday at the request of the police.
The wooden structure was built by protesters and housed the handouts they provide to people visiting Tent City Square.
An officer on scene said DPW took it down because members of the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy were concerned and it violated certain restrictions.
“The thing wasn’t anchored, a gust of wind could have brought it into traffic on the street,” said Boston Police Superintendent-in-chief Dan Linskey.
Follow Steve Annear on Twitter @steveannear.
