Off- duty police to be replaced by WWF wrestlers By CHRISTINA HEADLOCK St. Petersburg PennySaver, July 5, 2001 http://www.404notfound.com/News/070401/NorthPinellas/I_Pity_the_Fool.html CLEARWATER -- Police Chief Sid Klein and interim City Manager Bill Horne may stop allowing uniformed off-duty police officers to work as security guards for the Church of Scientology along Watterson Avenue.

The church has responded by making plans to use members of the World Wrestling Federation instead.

Horne says that he is "obviously receptive" to that idea, because he understands "there is a sensitivity to the level of police presence, even if they're off duty" at Scientology facilities.

Myron Fenderhoft, long-time fictional spokesman for the Church, says " We think that the use of such well-known personalities as Mankind, The Rock, Hulk Hogan or whatever his name is this week, and maybe some of those girl wrestlers too, will provide the required level of security for our members, while also providing a good show for passersby. It'll probably help with recruiting too."

Fenderhoft also remarked that there are no plans to hire midget wrestlers, out of concern that it might offend their current leader.

The Lisa McPherson Trust, a group critical of the church, has reacted to the announcement by stating that since professional wrestling is obviously scripted and faked, and that it's all just a show to keep the public amused, it should be a pretty good fit with the current practices of the Church. There is also some precedent, with certain members of both sides being caught on tape doing a little wrestling of their own.

Church spokesman Ben Shaw failed to see any similarities at all. " We're just concernedfor the security of our members. After all, the terrorists at the LMT have viciously sat in a Santa chair and threatened us with a piece of paper tied to a pole. We have reacted as good citizens by following them with P.I.'s and framing them for crimes, just like anyone else would do in this situation."

Watterson Avenue runs alongside a Scientology cafeteria, where members of the church are often getting on or off church buses. It is also about a block from the headquarters of the Lisa McPherson Trust.

The two groups have been in conflict since 1999, trailing each other through downtown with video cameras rolling, rebuking each other in venues from Internet pages to city meetings and complaining to city police about alleged infractions.

As a result of a lawsuit brought by the church, a temporary injunction prohibits members of both groups from coming within 10 feet of each other and designates where each can picket downtown. The church began hiring off-duty police officers for security during the conflict.

Police spokesman Wayne Shelor could offer little on the chief's reasoning for considering removing the officers, except to say that the chief's intention has always been to eventually extricate the officers from Watterson.

"He's said this from this beginning," Shelor said. "Things do seem to have settled quite a bit, which makes for really boring newspaper headlines."

Lisa McPherson Trust president Stacy Brooks said Tuesday that it would be a relief to trust members if the off-duty officers were pulled back from Watterson, but she has concerns about the new replacements.

"It was pretty intimidating to have armed police officers putting their hands to their guns as we walk down the street to our cars in the parking lot," Brooks said. " Now, I guess we'll have to put up with silly histrionics, mysoginistic comments, and ridiculous threats about what will happen next time.

But then, that's pretty much business as usual from the Church. At least they won't be armed with anything more dangerous than a folding chair or two."

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