VOLUME 6 |ISSUE 3 |2015 3941
• Scientology vs. Newkirk Herald Journal: From 1989
to 1992, the publisher of the Newkirk Herald Journal
(in Oklahoma), Robert W. Lobsinger, wrote biting
editorials criticizing Scientology. Lobsinger reports
that, as a result, private investigators went to the
sheriff’s office to get “the goods” on him and his
family. Scientology put an ad in another paper
attacking Lobsinger. Then the organization sent that
ad to all of Newkirk’s 2,500 residents.
• Scientology vs. Paulette Cooper: In 1972, New York
author Paulette Cooper wrote The Scandal of
Scientology, a scathing book on the Church. Cooper
subsequently became the object of an intensive
harassment campaign known as Operation Freakout.
The end goal of the campaign was to have Cooper
institutionalized or to ruin her reputation. Cooper
also was framed by the Church, using paper with
her fingerprints on it and using her typewriter, for
a forged bomb threat. On May 9, 1973, she was
indicted on charges of making bomb threats against
the Church. The Church’s scheme was exposed
when the FBI raided the Church’s office and found
documents related to Cooper’s framing.
(Salon, 3/15/15)
Church of Scientology revenues slump
Loans from abroad appear to be keeping afloat the Irish
branch of the Church of Scientology. News accounts suggest
that the Dublin branch experienced a revenue drop from
about €73,000 to just under €50,000 last year. And these
figures pale in comparison to 2006 revenue of €603,000. (Irish
Independent, 5/5/15)
Police reports reveal how Scientology leader’s father was
spied upon
According to police records, private detectives tracked
every move made for 18 months by Ronald Miscavige Sr.,
the father of David Miscavige, the leader of the Church of
Scientology. The Church paid two detectives $10,000 a week
through an intermediary. The two investigators were hired
out of a concern that David’s father, Ronald, who is now an
ex-member of the Church, would talk about the Church’s
activities.
Dwayne Powell, one of the investigators, was approached by
the police while he was spying on Ronald because of a report
of suspicious activity in the neighborhood. At the police
station, the records state that Powell told Detective Nicholas
Pye that he was hired by the Church of Scientology to conduct
full-time surveillance of the elder Miscavige, now 79, who
lived in a nearby town. Powell told police the church paid him
through another Florida investigations firm, Terry Roffler and
Associates. Although he reported directly to that firm, “the
main client is a David Miscavige, who is the son of Ronald
Miscavige,” the records note. The Church of Scientology denies
hiring Powell or having any knowledge of him. (Los Angeles
Times, 4/9/15)
Narconon setbacks
A Church of Scientology drug and rehabilitation center
linked to the Church of Scientology has lost a bid to operate
in central Warburton, Australia in the face of more than a year
of intense community opposition. The Association for Better
Living and Education has appealed to the Victorian Civil and
Administrative Tribunal. (Sydney Morning Herald, 2/9/15)
A class-action suit filed against Narconon of South Santa
Cruze County in northern California alleges that its drug-
treatment center near Mount Madonna gave participants a
path to joining the Church of Scientology rather than a way
out of drug and alcohol abuse. (Santa Cruz Sentinel, 5/5/15)
Two years ago, local opposition stymied Narconon’s attempt
to open a facility in Hockley Village near Orangeville in
Ontario, Canada. Narconon is now trying to open in Milton,
where Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw 144-2003 led the town
committee to declare that the proposed facility did not fit
the town’s definition of a group home. The decision is being
appealed. (Toronto Star, 2/9/15)
A drug-rehab center linked to the Church of Scientology
has been “fined and ordered to remove unsubstantiated
claims made online about ‘curing’ patients.” Narconon owns
the program’s site in East Warburton, Australia. (News.com.au,
5/11/15)
The Frederick County Council in Maryland voted against
rezoning a fishing retreat that some wanted to use for a
Narconon drug-rehabilitation program. Narconon is expected
to appeal. (The New York Times, 6/2/15)
Three arrested on suspicion of kidnapping member of
religious commune
Andres Martinez-Manso, Eliza Martinez, and Robert Harry
Matthew were arrested in Vista, California on June 5, 2015
on suspicion of kidnapping Robert Martinez, a relative from
the Twelve Tribes community/church. The men feared that
Martinez was being brainwashed by the group. The incident
began with what looked like a hit-and-run, according to Sgt.
Patrick Yates. A deputy stopped two vans that were speeding,
and Martinez was released unharmed. A June 12 report said
that the District authorities had decided not to pursue charges
because they did not believe they could prove them beyond a
reasonable doubt. (Los Angeles Times, 6/6/15)
Controversy over children’s safety at religious community
A Queens Bench Justice in Manitoba, Canada was so
concerned for the safety of children in the religious group
called the Twelve Tribes that she banned a member of
the group from bringing her child into any of the group’s
Manitoba locations. The case came to light when Jo Hawkins
(former husband of a Twelve Tribes member) learned that
the group practiced corporal punishment and had hosted
a man who was previously convicted of possessing child
pornography in 2013 in British Columbia. Upon his release, the
• Scientology vs. Newkirk Herald Journal: From 1989
to 1992, the publisher of the Newkirk Herald Journal
(in Oklahoma), Robert W. Lobsinger, wrote biting
editorials criticizing Scientology. Lobsinger reports
that, as a result, private investigators went to the
sheriff’s office to get “the goods” on him and his
family. Scientology put an ad in another paper
attacking Lobsinger. Then the organization sent that
ad to all of Newkirk’s 2,500 residents.
• Scientology vs. Paulette Cooper: In 1972, New York
author Paulette Cooper wrote The Scandal of
Scientology, a scathing book on the Church. Cooper
subsequently became the object of an intensive
harassment campaign known as Operation Freakout.
The end goal of the campaign was to have Cooper
institutionalized or to ruin her reputation. Cooper
also was framed by the Church, using paper with
her fingerprints on it and using her typewriter, for
a forged bomb threat. On May 9, 1973, she was
indicted on charges of making bomb threats against
the Church. The Church’s scheme was exposed
when the FBI raided the Church’s office and found
documents related to Cooper’s framing.
(Salon, 3/15/15)
Church of Scientology revenues slump
Loans from abroad appear to be keeping afloat the Irish
branch of the Church of Scientology. News accounts suggest
that the Dublin branch experienced a revenue drop from
about €73,000 to just under €50,000 last year. And these
figures pale in comparison to 2006 revenue of €603,000. (Irish
Independent, 5/5/15)
Police reports reveal how Scientology leader’s father was
spied upon
According to police records, private detectives tracked
every move made for 18 months by Ronald Miscavige Sr.,
the father of David Miscavige, the leader of the Church of
Scientology. The Church paid two detectives $10,000 a week
through an intermediary. The two investigators were hired
out of a concern that David’s father, Ronald, who is now an
ex-member of the Church, would talk about the Church’s
activities.
Dwayne Powell, one of the investigators, was approached by
the police while he was spying on Ronald because of a report
of suspicious activity in the neighborhood. At the police
station, the records state that Powell told Detective Nicholas
Pye that he was hired by the Church of Scientology to conduct
full-time surveillance of the elder Miscavige, now 79, who
lived in a nearby town. Powell told police the church paid him
through another Florida investigations firm, Terry Roffler and
Associates. Although he reported directly to that firm, “the
main client is a David Miscavige, who is the son of Ronald
Miscavige,” the records note. The Church of Scientology denies
hiring Powell or having any knowledge of him. (Los Angeles
Times, 4/9/15)
Narconon setbacks
A Church of Scientology drug and rehabilitation center
linked to the Church of Scientology has lost a bid to operate
in central Warburton, Australia in the face of more than a year
of intense community opposition. The Association for Better
Living and Education has appealed to the Victorian Civil and
Administrative Tribunal. (Sydney Morning Herald, 2/9/15)
A class-action suit filed against Narconon of South Santa
Cruze County in northern California alleges that its drug-
treatment center near Mount Madonna gave participants a
path to joining the Church of Scientology rather than a way
out of drug and alcohol abuse. (Santa Cruz Sentinel, 5/5/15)
Two years ago, local opposition stymied Narconon’s attempt
to open a facility in Hockley Village near Orangeville in
Ontario, Canada. Narconon is now trying to open in Milton,
where Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw 144-2003 led the town
committee to declare that the proposed facility did not fit
the town’s definition of a group home. The decision is being
appealed. (Toronto Star, 2/9/15)
A drug-rehab center linked to the Church of Scientology
has been “fined and ordered to remove unsubstantiated
claims made online about ‘curing’ patients.” Narconon owns
the program’s site in East Warburton, Australia. (News.com.au,
5/11/15)
The Frederick County Council in Maryland voted against
rezoning a fishing retreat that some wanted to use for a
Narconon drug-rehabilitation program. Narconon is expected
to appeal. (The New York Times, 6/2/15)
Three arrested on suspicion of kidnapping member of
religious commune
Andres Martinez-Manso, Eliza Martinez, and Robert Harry
Matthew were arrested in Vista, California on June 5, 2015
on suspicion of kidnapping Robert Martinez, a relative from
the Twelve Tribes community/church. The men feared that
Martinez was being brainwashed by the group. The incident
began with what looked like a hit-and-run, according to Sgt.
Patrick Yates. A deputy stopped two vans that were speeding,
and Martinez was released unharmed. A June 12 report said
that the District authorities had decided not to pursue charges
because they did not believe they could prove them beyond a
reasonable doubt. (Los Angeles Times, 6/6/15)
Controversy over children’s safety at religious community
A Queens Bench Justice in Manitoba, Canada was so
concerned for the safety of children in the religious group
called the Twelve Tribes that she banned a member of
the group from bringing her child into any of the group’s
Manitoba locations. The case came to light when Jo Hawkins
(former husband of a Twelve Tribes member) learned that
the group practiced corporal punishment and had hosted
a man who was previously convicted of possessing child
pornography in 2013 in British Columbia. Upon his release, the
