Editorials › Activism, Andrew Morton, Anonymous, Atlanta, Australia, bomb, Brussels, California, Canada, celebrity, David Miscavige, Dublin, Europe, Great Britain, Ireland, Jenna Hill Miscavige, John Travolta, London, Melbourne, New York, Police, protest, Tom Cruise, Toronto, United States of America
Published on Tuesday 25th March 2008
But it was two recent events that propelled the members of Anonymous to act. Sources told ABCNEWS.com that they were initially intrigued by the publication of Andrew Morton’s biography of Tom Cruise, which was highly critical of Scientology. That drew them to the Internet for more information where they came across the leak of several church videos on YouTube featuring Cruise’s wildly enthusiastic praise of Scientology.
Editorials › Activism, Andrew Morton, Anonymous, Australia, California, celebrity, Clearwater, David Miscavige, disconnection, Europe, Fair Game policy, Florida, Fort Harrison Hotel, Great Britain, Hemet, Hollywood, Katie Holmes, Kirstie Alley, Lisa Marie Presley, Lisa McPherson, London, Los Angeles, New York, Office of Special Affairs, Paulette Cooper, Police, protest, psychiatry, Sea Org, South Park, Suppressive Person, tax, Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Xenu
Published on Tuesday 18th March 2008
After an embarrassing string of high-profile defection and leaked videos, Scientology is under attack from a faceless cabal of online activists. Has America’s most controversial religion finally met its match?
Clearwater is prepared for its enemies. It’s a warm, if overcast, Saturday in February, but all the storefronts lining the sidewalks of this sleepy town on […]
Images, News › Activism, Anonymous, celebrity, death, disconnection, Fair Game policy, Florida, Hollywood, L. Ron Hubbard, Lisa McPherson, Los Angeles, Magoo, Mark Bunker, Mark Ebner, protest, psychiatry, Tom Cruise, Tory Christman, TV, United States of America, Wise Beard Man
Published on Monday 17th March 2008
Nearly 300 demonstrators jammed the sidewalks out front on March 15, many of them young computer geeks in plastic Guy Fawkes masks honoring the 16th-century British subversive. Some hid behind party masks and bandanas. They hoisted signs: “Religion is free, Scientology is not,” “They want your money and your sanity,” and, in a reference to a string of mysterious tragedies involving members of Scientology, “How many more must die?”
More than 20 local campaigners picketed the building on Saturday as part of a worldwide protest against Scientology.
One protester, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “The church has a strong history of litigation against any of its critics so we wear masks so they cannot identify us.”
Daniella Gibbs, 22, used to work in the Ebrington Street office, but left and joined the protesters.
She said she had got involved when she was 18 for a year because she believed she would get training as a counsellor.
She said she left after her working hours were extended to 86 hours a week, and she was encouraged to recruit new members.
About 40 people wearing masks and birthday party hats gathered Saturday afternoon to protest the Battle Creek Church of Scientology.
It was conducted Saturday in concurrance with worldwide protests around Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s March 13 birthday.
One Battle Creek man was arrested for wearing a mask and defying a police officer.
News › Activism, Anonymous, Europe, Great Britain, John Travolta, London, Manchester, New York, protest, Tom Cruise, United States of America
Published on Sunday 16th March 2008
Last month more than 7,000 Anonymous recruits picketed Scientology bases in 93 cities including London, Manchester and New York.
They were on the streets again yesterday, protesting outside recruitment centres around the world.
The Church of Scientology was told again Thursday it could not have a court order restraining Anonymous protesters this weekend, largely because the church’s foe is as elusive as thin air.
But in its zeal to identify those who threatened the church, Scientology misfired, according to one woman who says she got fingered just because she works at Starbucks, near the church’s headquarters.
Rosalie Fair, 19, said she had simply come to check her work schedule on Feb. 10 when a group of about 200 protesters from the Internet activist group Anonymous demonstrated in downtown Clearwater.
The report of the suspicious package came this afternoon at about the same time Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird denied an injunction the church sought to stop the Internet-based group Anonymous from protesting outside Scientology’s headquarters in Clearwater this weekend.
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Linda R. Allan denied a similar request Thursday.
The torrent of alleged harassment and threats was the underpinning of two church lawsuits filed Tuesday and Wednesday in Pinellas Circuit Court, each seeking to bar Anonymous members from coming within 500 feet of Scientology buildings in Clearwater during a planned protest this weekend.
Tuesday’s suit, a petition for an “injunction for protection against repeat violence,” was denied Wednesday afternoon by Circuit Judge Linda Allan, who ruled the relevant Florida statute does not apply to corporations.
Just hours before Allan ruled, the church filed a separate, nearly identical lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order. The second suit seeks protection under a different Florida statute. No decision has been made on that suit.
