Picket Report: San Francisco Mission, 406 Sutter Street Saturday MAY 11,1996

Before leaving I called the S.F.P.D. day watch supervisor to let him know I would be picketing the Scientology mission. He said, "Great! Where is that at?" I told him 406 Sutter Street. He then said, "Well have fun." I have to admit that I was a bit surprised by this response.

I asked him if I could talk to someone in person. I told him that I wanted to let them know who I was, why I was out there, and what I was doing. I explained that I was concerned that Scientology would try to get me arrested for harassing them and I wanted to get all my concerns cleared up once and for all. He said, "Well as long as you keep moving and don't block their doorway that's not harassing them." I then said that I was concerned that they might lie about me, that they might say anything just to get me taken away. He told me that if they got a complaint they would send someone out and if I wasn't doing anything obviously wrong I wouldn't get arrested. I asked, "So I don't need to worry about getting arrested?" He said ,"No." I immediately felt so relieved. I had been living with visions of patrols cars roaring up, screeching to a stop right in front of me, then being handcuffed and hauled off to jail. Now I can rest (reasonably) assured that that won't happen.

In all my pickets I've seen quite a few patrol cars drive by with the officer staring right at me. They all kept right on driving. I guess I've become a common sight for them. I know I've made a favorable impression on the local community now it looks like I've also made a favorable impression on the local police department.

For the third week in a row a staff member ( Tim ) has come out to disseminate shortly after I arrived. At one point he came up to me and finally popped the question that I've been expecting. He asked, "Are you just doing this on your own or did someone put you up to this?" I replied, "All my little body thetans told me to be here." He said, "What's a body thetan? I don't know what that is." I said, "You know damn well what a body thetan is, if you don't then go inside and clear it."

He just asked me his first question again. I replied, "Xenu sent me. He's on his way." At that I just walked away. Behind my back I heard him say to me, "I guess you just can't take responsibility for your own actions." I thought to myself, "What a clown. I've got my own agenda here, I'm not going to play his stupid game."

A short while later Tim was able to lure some guy inside. When the guy came out he walked passed me holding some literature and their personality test. When he did I pointed to my sign and said, "It's all a scam you know." The guy said, "Yeah, I know. I was just going to throw this stuff out anyway." Tim comes rushing up and says, "You know that's illegal? You can't harass people who come out of the mission." I replied, "That wasn't harassment. You better go inside and clear the word 'harassment'."

The sign I carry says, "in my opinion SCIENTOLOGY IS A SCAM". As the afternoon wore on more and more people started coming up to me asking WHY I thought that. One woman did and after I explained she told me that she had a niece that was involved and that that's why she asked. She walked off quickly saying that she had to hurry up and go home to warn her.

A little while later this couple walked up and were curious as to what Scientologists really believe. At the point I start to talk about the whole Xenu thing Tim comes rushing up and butts in saying, "That's not what Scientology is all about." He then points to the word "Scientology" on my sign and starts getting into a discussion of what the WORD "Scientology" means. I kind of let him finish and then said, "He's just trying to distract your attention here. This is what Scientology really means." I point to the word "scam". They seem convinced. Their misunderstood word has been cleared. I continued, "He's just trying to distract your attention so that he can force the PR version on you. I'm letting you know what REALLY goes on in there." Tim backs off and walks away. I continue about all the body thetans and they start to laugh at the absurdity of the whole thing. They were also rather amazed at the prices clams charge for all these "beliefs."

I've noticed that when I'm talking to someone Tim often comes up and points to the WORD "Scientology" on my sign and gets the person into discussing the definition. This immediately distracts the person's attention from what *I'm* saying. I think I've found an antidote for this, just point out to the person how they just got manipulated by him.

Around 5:00 P.M. a second person comes outside and starts disseminating at the corner of Sutter and Stockton. Now there are two of them for one of me. I wonder what this could mean.

On this picket I noticed that there's been a very significant change in the mood of staff members towards me. When I first started picketing all the mission staff tried to be very friendly. When they first saw me they'd say things like, "Hi Wayne, how's it going?" They'd say it in a very cheerful tone of voice pretending that they didn't even notice my sign. Now, however, they all just walk passed, staring at me without saying a word. I can almost see the little wheels turning in their heads and see the (S) (P) symbols in their eyes. You know, strange as it may sound, I prefer this new reaction over their earlier one. It keeps me more in the "picketing mood." Their other reaction was a little distracting until I learned that it was best to just ignore them.

I still find it amazing to see how many people's lives have been harmed by this organization. If you just walk around S.F. you would never see them. When I go there carrying a picket sign they start coming out of the woodwork and come up to me to tell me their stories. One woman told me how on her first reg cycle she was locked in the room and that it wasn't until she actually started trying to kick the door down that they let her out. Even then two staff members followed her almost all the way home before turning around and going back. A doctor told me how one of his patients needed an operation but had been convinced by the clams to spend all his money to "go clear" instead.

The stories I hear on the street go on and on. There are so many people out there who remain silent victims. These people need a voice, they need to be heard. I wish I could give them that voice.

Wayne Whitney