Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 03:07:52 -0700
Message-ID: <3f643a81@news2.lightlink.com>

LA PICKET: WE BEAT OSA!!!

We began today meeting at Sizzler, planning on a nice, informative picket Exposing the abuses of "The Church of Scientology". First off let me say one of the critics helped us by making beautiful new signs. This took lots of work, and we each thank this person for their hard work.

Once we ate, we decided to head out to the HGB: Hollywood Guarantee Building (Which is International Management), and the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition right next door. These are at Hollywood and Vine, basically. Someone had already driven past big blue, and reported they now have HUGE walls put up to block ANY views of our communications. God forbid the followers should see some truth!

As we began picketing, Hollywood rallied with us. Cars drove by all day long with people honking, yelling, and giving us the thumbs up. Many people walked by and told us their own personal horror stories re Scientology. This town is not fooled by these phonies!!

We also had two people walk up and ask us if they could join the picket. We had extra signs, so we gave them signs and they too began walking back and forth. One had a dog, and had a sign on it saying, "Do Not Believe L. Ron Hubbard". So this was a first re having a dog in our picket!!

All during this the staff did their usual cowering inside the building.

Three of us were X-Scientologists and the rest were critics. We continued talking with people and passing out Xenu Flyers (at least 300, and 400 flyers and about 300 cards with Web sites). People of all walks of life and all ages came up to talk with us. Meantime, Scientology hid inside. The picket just seemed to flow like music, with each of us talking to passersby, passing out flyers and cards, and walking along with our signs.

Next we decided to go across the street and get something to drink, to cool down. (It was about 80 degrees today). As we sat down we could see across the street and suddenly, as soon as we left, they all came outside. We could see the LRH Life Expo zip out and try to quickly pass out more invitations in. As usual, no one wanted to come in!

This went on all day. People honking with us..Scientology trying to to rope people in and they failing. As we traveled down to the Scientology Testing Center, things heated up :)

Down from them were these loud Black Israelites screaming non-stop about how Jesus was really Black. They were screaming constantly. Ok, and OSA had Mellony, the Commanding Officer of L.A. Day out at the Testing Center, Along with Jean Dale, OT 7 or OT 8. Both were not happy with we picketing.

You can hear on the tape Mellony asking people, "Would you like to get a Free Presonality Test" and one for one, people said, "No". Meantime, we were passing out flyers, the Web sites, and I had the sign, "Honk if you Think Scientology is a CULT". People were literally honking from both sides of the street. Also, if they didn't have a car, and were walking by, they'd go "HONK".into my tape recorder. I was taping this, and will send it to Andreas to put up, as it's amazing to hear what people have to say.

All of a sudden I realized this Cab was parked right outside of the Scientology Testing Center, basically semi-blocking our signs. I realized no doubt OSA had requested the cab, with the intention of blocking our signs.

So I leaned in and asked, "Are you picking anyone up?" The gentleman said, "No". At that point I knew my perception was correct. So I leaned in and said, "These people are against Free Speech, and we are fighting FOR Free Speech. You cab is blocking our signs, so you think about that and decide what you want to do". I walked away, and to my great surprise, a few minutes later I heard the cab start up and he roared off, honking loudly down the street. This happened two different times while we were there.

All during this time, Mellony and Jean were on their Cell phones. Finally the police showed up! At first it was just someone from OSA, talking with two LA PD.

Finally the cops came over to me and told me they had a report we were disrupting a residency. I asked where, as the Testing Center is totally a business. He pointed above it (Three stories) and said those residence were complaining. I told him first off we have a Constitutional right to picket, and secondly, I was pretty sure they (OSA) were lying about anyone living above the Testing Center. I also pointed out if we were upsetting these so called residence with our quiet picket with only Graham speaking out a bit, what about the Black guys screaming non-stop. He said, 'We'll get to them"

(Which they never did, proving it was only content related, not true distraction).

Finally after much talk, more OSA Int people arrived. Pam (used to be King) now Bowen and one of their top dogs who runs the attorneys, Ed Parken arrived on the scene. Pam was furious and I could see was sent with orders to get rid of us. I used to work with Pam, and Mellony, and was on OT 7 with Jean, so I knew them all. Of course they were giving me (and all others) the total Scientology non-communication Silent Treatment. By this point they were shooting total hate 'vibes' at me. "How could you" .was the flow.

The two cops came back and said they were "Just trying to keep the peace". I said, "So are we". They said, "Well, we have a request. You can say yes, or no, but we would like you to go over to the other side of the street".

Having lived through the Clearwater nightmare with the "Church" <spit> of Scientology going to court and getting a court injunction with all the BS restrictions stopping free speech, there was no way I was about to allow such a precedence to be set here.

I looked at the young cop and said, "I heard your request and here is my answer: No! We are here, we are going to continue to picket per the Constitution of the USA". I also pointed out I was pretty sure they were lying about anyone living upstairs. The two LA PD said they couldn't handle it, and they'd have to call their supervisors. So the Supervisors arrived, and now there were 5 or 6 cops in all.

We continued picketing, and more people began honking than all day long.

Maybe they saw the cops..I'm not sure, but suddenly it went wild from both sides of the street.

I saw OSA skulking around the corner, so I walked around to hear what was being said. Pam immediately said, "I don't want her here!" I said, "Well, since you're talking about me, I'd like to hear what is being said". At that point I hear the Supervisor ask Ed, "Well, if you live here, I'd like to see your driver's License proving it".

At that point I could only laugh, as I knew once again the infamous "Office of Special Affairs" had blown it AGAIN!!!

I told Mellony and Jean that if they would just knock of the Fair Game, and Knock of Lying.and just do what they do best, they'd actually have more people wanting to come in. However, when they are actively trying to get us arrested or pitched off the street for picketing (They hoping to stop free speech)..people don't like that.

The cops finally drove off..as Scientology had NO proof that anyone lived above the Testing Center. We won. they lost. OSA INT was seriously pissed, and growled by me calling me a "Hate monger". I told them I was not a hate monger, and if they'd stop trying to stop free speech and go read any of these sites, they'd no doubt be out with us picketing. They growled, and walked off. Pam leaned against the testing center looking very mad. I walked over to her and she said, "Get away from me or I'll call the police". My response? "What about OT, Pam. What about Communication? Scientology is supposed to be about communication and yet all you do is work to stop it".

Shortly after this we decided we were done. We actually were just about to leave when the cops arrived, but once OSA had called the cops, we decided we needed to take it to the correct "win", which we did!

We all came back to my house to celebrate, share food and drink and enjoy each other. Some other SP's arrived to share the night together.

It was a grand picket.and a delightful night!

Thank you to each person who helped create such an informative, and fun picket! We actually even had someone from another country; many miles away come join us :)

I'm SOOOO Happy I'm free!

Thank you SO much to Andreas, and to all my friends who have helped me get out of that trap and free. It has taken quite a lot.but it's been SO worth it :) Also, from everyone in Hollywood, thank you to Andreas and Xenu.net, and each critic who stands up for Free Speech. We are winning, no question about it!

My love to all :)

Tory/Magoo~dancing in the moonlight~
In for 30 years
Out for 3 years and 3 months
SP 6 ^with Cumulative Cluster
Free at last!

For more information, please see:

www.xenu.net
www.lermanet.com
www.torymagoo.org
www.xenutv.com
www.alreligionscientology.org
www.slatkinfraud.net
www.scientologywatch.org
:)
.

From: "Jeff Jacobsen" <cultxpt@ev1.net>
Subject: Jeff's Picket Report, 9/13/03 in Los Angeles
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 04:21:21 -0000
Message-ID: <vmafi13f2ck05a@corp.supernews.com>
X-User-Info: 216.203.252.110 216.203.252.110 cultxpt

[This will probably duplicate some stuff others have already said]

It takes about 7 hours to drive from Phoenix to Los Angeles. So I spent 14 hours driving in order to spend about 14 hours with critics in LA. It was worth it.

The big news Saturday morning was that the police had arrested a suspect in the arson of dozens of new Hummers in LA several days ago. The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) had claimed credit for protecting the environment by destroying all these gas guzzling vehicles. See, some activists are just dumb.

I drove around in the morning looking at Co$ properties. I saw that L. Ron Hubbard Way had been closed off and lots of tables and decorations had been set up. On the south side they had placed cloth walls about 10 feet high across the entrance to the road. That way, any picketers ouside that wall could not be seen. I saw people making some more of those walls, probably for the north side. The parking lot was surrounded by this same high wall of cloth. There was a big stage set up (I'll try to post pics later).

The Celebrity Center was pretty quiet, as were the Hollywood Blvd. properties.

So I read the paper then went to our lunch meeting place. 3 others showed up, one was a new ex that I had never met before; Skippy. So we had a good lunch and took off.

We went to the Hubbard Life Exhibit, a great place to hand out fliers.

We probably handed out about 200 fliers there (a guess). Skippy was very good at handing out fliers. Graham and Tanman joined us there, as did another ex and 2 pedestrians. So we had a good group and weren't harassed at all that I can think of. Many people walking by said in low voices "boy we're glad you're out here!" And, "Finally somebody is doing this!" We got positive responses and several good conversations there. Some people refused our fliers saying "I already know it's bad, give it to someone who doesn't know."

I think we were there about 2 hours and some.

As we were taking a drink break at the pizza place kitty corner from the Life Exhibit, I saw that the security camera on the Life Exhibit building was pointing exactly at the entry of the pizza place. How strange! And of course, when we went back on the sidewalk, the camera went back to pointing at the sidewalk.

And you know, since *we* have Total Freedom, we just out of the blue decided to go to the testing center down Hollywood Blvd. and protest there for a while. And you know what? We didn't have to have a committee about it, ask uplines for permission, or anything. Somebody suggested it, we all figured it was a good idea, so poof, there we went.

The first thing we noticed when we got to the testing center was this group of maybe a dozen black guys preaching on the sidewalk just west of the testing center doors, maybe 30 feet away. They were very loud and constantly preaching. One would preach, and another would yell out Bible quotes when prompted. They would harangue people going by, and even did a short bit about what might be wrong with Scientology.

So Graham and I held up the WWW.XENU.NET banner closer to the testing center than the black guys (I think their group is Black Israelites or something like that - they claim to be the Lost Tribes). Others walked up and down with the great new picket signs. Tanman somehow had parked his car right in front of us, and suggested we drape the banner on his car. So we draped it on the left side, holding it in place with the windshield wipers front and back. This was great as any cars going by and anybody across the street would see this. I went across the street for a look and it stood out even more than any Co$ posters or signs (again, pics later).

We had a pretty good time, even with the competition of the black guys accosting pedestrians, us handing out fliers, and the Scientologists handing out fliers, all in the same little area. There were no confrontations or anything from that. But as we were just talking about leaving, Tory said that the cops had arrived. So we hung around to see what the cops wanted.

They talked to Tory, Graham, and others, but I didn't talk to them at all.

These cops didn't seem clear on what they could or should do, so they called their supervisor. I went down the couple of blocks to put more quarters in the meter for my car, and when I got back there were 2 cop cars, 2 bicycle cops, and even more Scientologists talking to the cops. So it was a kind of hectic scene on that corner; Black Israelites preaching away, us with our signs and fliers, the Scientologists handing out their fliers, and OSA and about 6 cops having a heated conversation. Tory wrote about what happened with the cops, but I just kept picketing so I don't have direct info. on that.

A few people stopped to ask about who Lisa McPherson was on my sign, or just to converse. One guy asked if I knew that Seagram's had bought Scientology in 1983. I said no, I'd have to look into that.

Finally the cops left (and note; they NEVER talked to the noisier, more aggressive Black Isrealites), about 45 minutes after we first started talking about leaving. It was time to get to The Party, so we took off. Graham and I talked about picketing the Auditor's Day event that night, and then off we went.

It was a good party, with good food and conversation. Graham arrived a little later, but we were both a bit bushed from all the picketing we had already done, so once again - since we have Total Freedom - we just decided not to go picket. Can you believe that? We just decided that resting, conversing, and eating heavy chocolate cake was more our calling at that time.

Later that night I took off to begin my long journey back to Phoenix.

My car gets 36 mpg.

www.lisamcpherson.org

From: thetaeradicator@aol.com (ThetaEradicator)
Date: 15 Sep 2003 06:20:55 GMT
Subject: Los Angeles Picket Report, Sept 13, 2003
Message-ID: <20030915022055.03231.00000811@mb-m11.aol.com>

Los Angeles Picket Report
September 13, 2003

Tory, Jeff Jacobson, an anonymous picketer from Australia and I, met for lunch at The Sizzler on Hollywood Boulevard before our picket. Graham Berry was expected later, and Tanman, though expected, 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 flyer 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 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, both 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. Pity; I’d spent a considerable amount of time choosing my outfit and doing my hair.

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?”. Overjoyed, 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, and 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 heard 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 about 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 all that 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 honk 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.

Meanwhile, OSA sent out a guy to collect some of our flyers -- for the “file.”

In addition to carrying her sign, Tory was taping 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 around 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.

Needless to say, 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 man and handing out flyers to people. I had seen her on a previous picket and have sensed a great deal of sadness in her. Whether this is because she was working on a Saturday, or was realizing that OTVII doesn’t work, or suffering from some other tragedy, 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 been taking hair cues from Ellen DeGeneres, had apparently just sped over from the LHRLE to “handle” the eminent 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 a 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.” 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 expressions 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, 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.

Eventually, the officers asked, "O.K., who lives here?" A tall, bald OSA guy said he did. The officers asked to see his drivers license. When he was unable to produce this as proof of his address, the police realized that Scientology was lying and using them to intimidate us. They drove off, I imagine more than a little piqued. I have never seen OSA this angry. One of Tory's former friends was so furious, she was silent 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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