They’re young, they’re Republicans – and they’re crazy like Wall Street.
New York Republican members plan to storm Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan on Sunday for a “Re-Occupy Wall Street” demonstration to protest the actions of hedge funds and other financial institutions to undermine populist purchases fueled by Reddit shares GameStop this week.
“What I saw in the last few days was absolutely contemptuous. He is angry with many people, “Gavin Wax, president of the group, told The Post. “We have the elites and the substrates of all the others who don’t get to sit at the big boys ‘table and earn the big boys’ money.”
GameStop, a dusty video and electronic game retailer, saw shares rise by more than 1,700 percent as amateur traders poured money into stocks to protest Wall Street sellers who want to take advantage of the company’s failure. The move was originally organized by the Reddit WallStreetBets page.
As the stock grew and hedge funds faced billions in losses, more trading applications moved to prevent further stock sales. One – aptly named RobinHood – was hit with a class action lawsuit.
“I think they need to be prosecuted. Many of these guys have to go to jail. Text messages and emails must be confiscated. It was coordinated. There must be repercussions “, said Wax about the institutional effort to close the amateur traders.
Wax’s GOP rally is ironically trying to recapture some of the energy of the 2011 protests on Occupy Wall Street – which saw mostly left-wingers turn the park into a quasi-homeless camp that has rocked the city for months.
An hurried Eventbrite invitation invites YR members and fellow travelers to converge on the park at noon. “Bring signs and dress warmly,” reads the invitation.
But Wax said he would not become an overnighter as he once was.
“We have jobs to go to on Monday,” he said. “It will be beautiful and tidy. We’ll take a bath. ”