One opened, more to go... Operation Clambake present:

Picket Report 1
Los Angeles September 13 2003



 

Scientology Picket Photo 1

Picket photos:

  • Jeff
  • Graham
  • Scientology Picket Photo 2

    Scientology Picket Photo 3

    Also available:

  • Picket report by Tory
  • Picket report by Jeff
  • From: XXXXXXXXXXXXX@aol.com
    Subject: Los Angeles Picket Report,
    To: pickets@xenu.net

    Before our picket, Tory, Jeff Jacobson, an anonymous picketer from Australia and I, met for lunch at The Sizzler on Hollywood Boulevard. Graham Berry was expected to arrive later, and Tanman, anticipating his first picket, was running behind. We were equipped with over ten large and professionally printed picket signs, business cards with critical web sites, Xenu flyers, and a leaflet Jeff had made called "Why Protest Scientology?" If our numbers weren't (initially) encouraging, our equipment was state-of-the-art.

    We arrived at the LRH Life Exhibition Building at 12:35. About five staff members and a security guard were waiting for us, and as we rounded the southwest corner, one of them spotted Tory's car and immediately whipped out her cell phone to announce our arrival to headquarters.

    We were lucky, and grabbed the first parking spot North of Hollywood Boulevard on the West side of the building -- convenient for fetching more signs to give to the people we knew would be arriving later. Jeff carried a Lisa McPherson sign, I carried HUBBARD DIED ON PSYCH DRUGS, Tory's sign said EX-SCIENTOLOGISTS SPEAK: XENUTV.COM, and our guest from Australia carried SLATKIN GETS 14 YEARS IN PRISON. The four of us headed down to the corner to begin our picket.

    The staff members immediately ducked into the building. We could see them through the glass doors on phones, cell and non, jabbering frantically. They were on those phones for nearly forty minutes. I asked Tory why all five of them were necessary to report us to OSA, and why for so long. She explained that Scientology loves to create its own drama, and they had probably been given orders to identify each of us and detail what we were doing. I glanced up and noticed that the security camera, mounted 20 feet above the sidewalk, was following us around as if someone were driving it with a joystick. So we were "on camera", but strangely, no one ever rushed out of the building to take our pictures. Discouraging; I'd spent a considerable amount of time primping beforehand.

    A staff member passed me (HUBBARD DIED ON PSYCH DRUGS) and said under his breath, "he's not dead." Yeah, right.

    The public response was immediate and reassuring. Many folks came up and wondered why people didn't picket more often. A man and his three young daughters walked up to Tory and asked her to explain to his girls why we were picketing Scientology. Briefly, she told them her story, concluding that she had money on account with them that they would not refund. "Now, would you rather give money to an organization that gives you false promises, or go shopping?" All three answered together "shopping!" Their father was so proud.

    Fifteen minutes in, Tanman arrived. He had run into some traffic and missed our lunch. We grabbed him a sign (SCIENTOLOGY IS A UFO CULT: XENU.NET) and continued.

    A man in his thirties approached me, introduced himself as Moe, and asked why were were picketing. He had never heard of Scientology, but was fascinated by our description of what happened to Lisa McPherson and by the Xenu scam. I handed him a Xenu flyer, which he read carefully, and then said "what can I do?" Thrilled, Tory said "join our picket!" He agreed, and I handed him my sign, and switched to Tanman's, who switched to SCIENTOLOGY, STOP THE ABUSE. He stayed with us for over an hour and a half. Before he left gave his e-mail address to Tory, asking her to contact him for the next picket.

    An ex-Scientologist named Lucretia also stepped in. She had not read on the internet that we were picketing, but she was eager to take a stand against her former "religion." She had lost her right hand in an accident twenty years earlier, but she bravely held up Tory's picket sign with her remaining left and trooped with us for an hour.

    Tory switched to HONK IF YOU THINK SCIENTOLOGY IS A CULT. From this point onward, Hollywood Boulevard was a cacophony of noisy horns. People were giving us "thumbs up" out their windows, and even horn-less people on the sidewalk would pass us and say "Honk!" Two police cars drove by, and honked (!), as did a US Postal worker. I can only assume that the Police in Hollywood don't appreciate being used by the Church of Scientology for intimidating its adversaries (more on this later), and the Post Office probably doesn't enjoy delivering Scientology's cheap, nonprofit bulk mail. I think that when people saw us out there, speaking out against a "church" which is popularly viewed as sinister (and which is perhaps even feared), their own fear and reserve evaporated and they were eager to express their support.

    Graham Berry arrived and took pictures of all of us before jumping in (DISCONNECTED: SCIENTOLOGY BREAKS UP FAMILIES).

    I saw a young man bending over his dog, attaching something to the dog's harness. It was a sign he had made that said L RON HUBBARD WAS A FALSE PROPHET. He introduced himself and his dog, who's name was "Tucson." He had been diagnosed as mentally ill and had a brief, but unfortunate foray into Scientology. He saw us picketing and spontaneously decided to help us out. I handed him a stack of Xenu flyers, which he handed out for about an hour.

    OSA sent out a guy to collect some of our flyers, "for the "file."

    In addition to carrying her sign, Tory was tape-recording the comments of passersby. A few of these encounters were full-fledged interviews. A black man told Tory "Scientologists are racist pigs." He said that he passed the LRH Life Exhibition building every day, and the staff had never once invited him in — though they "ask white people to come in all the time!" I suspect after OSA sees this posted, a lot more black people will be pulled in to view the "remarkable achievements of L. Ron Hubbard."

    We picketed that site for over two hours before we decided to take a break and move on. All together, we had nine picketers and a dog — not bad at all. Tory attempted to engage the Security Guard in conversation as he came out to see us leave. Nervously, he sped past her as she called out "You guys are supposed to be cause over Life. You're not even cause over Hollywood Boulevard!" Decidedly –2, he scurried arround the corner and into the back entrance of the building.

    We sat down in a restaurant caddy-corner from the LRHLE building to have sodas and to use the restroom. Jeff pointed out that the OSA's security camera, which we could see out the window, was pointed at the front door of the restaurant the entire time we were having our sodas. The staff had also leaked out of the building and onto the street, assuming their pre-picket positions. Predictably, our emergence caused them to rush back inside. We never suspected we had so much power; we felt positively "OT." A few of our tribe wanted to see the security camera move around again, so there was another brief picket before we packed up and moved to the Testing Center five blocks West of where we were.

    Tory parked and waited for the others to arrive. I decided to move ahead and scope out the joint before we moved in. I stood across McCadden in my dark glasses, looking suspicious. All of the shades in the windows had been pulled, though the Testing Center is on the shady side of the street. Jean Dale, an OTVII who works for OSA, was standing out front with another OSA Op, handing out flyers to people. I had seen her on a previous picket and have sensed much sadness from her. Whether this was because she was suffering from a personal tragedy, was realizing that OTVII doesn't work, or because she was working on a Saturday, I cannot say. Later, my compassion was to be tested. A white car with an SS Scientology emblem on the back pulled up. Jean leaned in and indicated my presence to the woman behind the wheel. This lady, who had copied Ellen DeGeneres' hair style, had apparently just sped over from the LHRLE to "handle" the approaching picket. I went back to Tory's car to pick up my sign.

    As we assembled, Graham noticed that another group was protesting about 50 feet from where we were. They were loud, dressed in black leather, black and angry. They seemed to be protesting the traditional depiction of Jesus Christ as Caucasian, though they would occasionally bellow that Scientologists were Satan-worshippers. Ultimately they attracted a lot of attention to both themselves and us.

    This venue was much more crowded than the last, with many noisy honkings, high-fives and kudos from the public. Jean and the short-haired blonde woman were forcefully thrusting "Clear Mind, Clear Body" flyers into peoples' hands -- one reason Scientology is so reviled in Hollywood. I watched as these people would walk on and toss the flyers in a nearby garbage can. Many people, however, approached me and ASKED for Xenu flyers. Not once during the day did I ever force one into someone's hand, yet of the 200 I had made, I gave away nearly half. Scientology: you are throwing a lot of money down a deep, dark hole. If people want your services, they will come to you.

    Tanman parked his car on Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the Testing Center. He and Graham had attached a WWW.XENU.NET banner to its street side so everyone passing could see it. Meanwhile, a taxi van pulled up in front and waited. For about 15 minutes. Tory said, "something's up", and went around to talk to the driver. "Are you waiting for someone?" He said he was not. "Listen, this group, Scientology, is anti-free speech. You are here to block our signs. Think about it, and what you want to do." A few minutes later the driver started his van and merged into traffic, honking down the street. This happened twice during this phase of the picket.

    A few people were actually in the Center, taking the OCA. As they left, you could see their astonishment as they read our signs. Tory talked to a couple of boys who were leaving, handing them a card and making sure they "read both sides" before joining up. They thanked her and left. A couple of punk rocker chicks also left, rolling their eyes and muttering "I never thought they'd let us out of there!"

    After a few hours, we started to wear down. I said to Jean, "Relax, this will pass." She didn't answer, but I saw a smirk on her face and thought to myself "what now?" Sure enough, the police arrived. Tory pulled us together and said, "we can't leave now. If we do, they will try this every time we picket. Just keep moving." So we did.

    The officers listened to OSA for about ten minutes, then they walked over to us and asked for a word. Apparently, OSA claimed that the Testing Center is a residential building, and that the "residents" had complained we were disturbing them -- an obviously bogus claim considering that the building is not residential, and the anti-white-Jesus protesters down the way were far louder than we were. The officers acknowledged to me that the residential status of the building was certainly questionable, but their job was to keep the peace. They asked us to move across the street. Tory said, "you want my answer to that: NO!" So we continued our picket, knowing that they could not arrest us unless we were actually disturbing the peace or blocking the sidewalk. OSA was not happy, and the Police had to call in three others and a supervisor to consult on how to control the situation. There was now one officer for each picketer.

    Eventually, the supervisor asked OSA, "O.K., who actually lives here?" A tall, bald OSA guy said that he did. He was asked to produce his drivers license so they could verify his address, which did not match that of the Testing Center. The police realized that Scientology was lying and using them to intimidate us. They drove off, more than a little piqued. I have never seen OSA this angry. One of Tory's former friends was so outraged, she giving Tory the silent treatment, staring past her and shaking with fury. My compassion for Jean Dale hardened as I realized she had no intergriy and had lied to the police to get us arrested. We picketed for another ten minutes, just to let them know who won.

    This picket was an exhilarating experience. We successfully reached out to the public to spread the word about Scientology's crimes and abuses. Three people (and a dog) had joined us off the street to help us picket, an astounding gesture of support from the community. Finally, free speech triumphed over OSA's lies and censorship tactics. The tech failed and truth prevailed as, after five hours, our highly successful and gratifying picket came to an end.

     

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