Today I had the chance to stroll down Highway 79 just outside Hemet again, along with Keith and our two pull-toys Ed and Frank. It started out like any other day of a nice walk in the desert, with a deserted prison encampment all around us, razor wire facing inward, armed guards, and security cameras everywhere (even one dutifully watching over the Ashley Shanter memorial on the side of the road from the nearby bushes). All in all, a nice "churchy" atmosphere for a stroll. Unfortunately, today was a bit different for me than usual. I was a bit worried about a little problem of my own. It seems that my son was off on a camping trip, and my other roommate decided to go off with her boyfriend, leaving my house unattended. Knowing that the "church" would probably be pulling another illegal (in San Jose) picket of my residence, I was a bit worried (especially after what has been going on with Jesse), that they might decide to make use of the circumstances. I made sure that some friends and the San Jose Police were aware of the situation, but still had an uneasy night. At breakfast, I mentioned to Ida that I had not slept well, and told her of my worries. When we got to the fortress, we were greeted with the normal abuse and wild accusations of our criminal and immoral characters, but soon the conversation went to other things. First Frank started asking me how my house in San Jose was. Then he asked me why I couldn't sleep last night. This went on for a while. Later on, Ed took up the questioning ... did you sleep well last night, Mr. Stone? Where is your son? Is your house OK down there in San Jose? How long would it take you to drive from here to San Jose, several hours? It's a nice day for burning, isn't it? (it was humid and he had earlier mentioned that it might rain in Hemet) [above paraphrased since I stupidly left my tape recorder in San Jose for this trip, but Keith did get some of it on tape] Does anyone have any idea how they ~might~ have decided to bring up these issues this morning? [a couple of law officers I talked to later were interested] A bit after that, I decided to call some people in San Jose, and went to talk to Keith. They would not let us talk in private, and insisted on putting their video camera about two feet from my face. We went to the car to talk, while they filmed, and were told by Frank that their expert lip reader would be analyzing the tape. They seemed very pleased to have found a "button". Unfortunately, this "button" only works once, since I have taken corrective actions. Anyway, I HAD been very hopeful that we were doing some things there that had begun to open up communications lines. We had discussed on previous days some issues, not agreeing on them, but agreeing to open some discussions on the issues that we were most concerned about. A small crack, but one that had my hopes up. We also had some conversations that seemed to be understood relative to the fact that intimidating me to stop wouldn't change things for them overall, and that attempts to intimidate me just make it less possible for me to quit. I cannot in good conscience leave my attempts to publicize the "church's" abuse due to their intimidation of me, because that would only make them take to ~that~ kind of abuse with ~more~ vigor, and I cannot contribute to allowing that. Therefore, today's display left me with two thoughts on my mind. First, I was very disappointed with the end results of what I had thought was a hopeful opening (I will post more on the details of this sometime later). Second, I was more determined than ever to find some way to MAKE this "church" stop their illegal and immoral practices. I decided that it was time for me to leave. I needed to make some phone calls (a bit more vigorous watching of my home was called for), and report the new developments to some interested parties. Of course, I will be a bit more careful next time I leave the area, but that's pretty well taken care of already. Several people here in San Jose are now more concerned about my safety, and also have decided to "watch my back" for me a bunch more. All in all, that works out to another fine job of advertising on the part of the cult. Time for me to get some much needed sleep. For anyone who happens to be around Hemet, there's a wonderful place to find great company and fabulous cookies there that I can tell you about. [thanks Ida] - Brent From the CWPD Investigation files: Statement of Annie Mora: "Even for us it's a weird thing." pg 109