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.
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.
Several people who claimed to be either members of Anonymous or agree with their views told the Enquirer the group is non-violent and they believe the threats were made by the church.
“I think it is a fake threat by the Scientologists to discredit their critics,” said Tony Meman, 27, of Lansing.
Mike Delaware, minister of the Battle Creek church, said while the local office has had prank phone calls since January, they had no problems today.
