Subject: preliminary picket report, SF 12/5/98
From: humanrights@racerrecords.com (Kristi Wachter)
Date: Sat, 05 Dec 1998 23:33:33 -0800
Message-ID: <humanrights-0512982333330001@racer.vip.best.com>

A total of 13 picketers picketed in San Francisco today from 10:20 am until 7:40 pm, with two beverage breaks and a dinner break. Handlers included Bill Crawford and Mark, with Jeff Quiros on camera duty.

LOTS of fliers given out. Extensive handler conversations held. Excellent Thai food eaten.

A brief post-dinner picket in the dark (but lit by nice bright streetlights) and rain (mostly drizzly) accomplished our own version of blue tarps - the org turned all the lights off, including the lobby!

No revenge picket reported at my home.

Detailed picket report to be posted later.

My thanks to everyone who joined in.

My thoughts and prayers to Lisa's family, Rodney Rimando's family, and all Scientology's victims and their families.

Kristi

=====
Subject: picket report, San Francisco, 12/5/98 [posted 12/30]
From: humanrights@racerrecords.com (Kristi Wachter)
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 00:25:57 -0800
Message-ID: <humanrights-3112980025570001@racer.vip.best.com>

Date: Saturday, December 5, 1998
Start and End Times: 10:30 am - 7:40 pm (minus three breaks)
Location: San Francisco
Picketers: Kristi Wachter, Brent Stone, Keith Henson
Handlers: Mark, Bill Crawford, and Jeff Quiros on camera
Number of Handouts given away: about 700 of the ones I brought; others gave away their own

On December 5, 1998, we held a special protest and memorial to remember Lisa McPherson and to grieve the losses of all those who have been hurt by Scientology, and all those who are being hurt today.

THE PRE-PICKET PICKET
=====================

Since this was likely to be the biggest San Francisco picket I'd ever been at, I took the precaution of notifying the police well in advance. I sent them a letter, along with info about Lisa's death, the felony charges against Scientology, and a flier incorporating Gregg Hagglund's excellent picket advisory (slightly modified for San Francisco).

In addition, since the Scientology revenge-picketers had already picketed my home this week (although my neighbors only reported seeing a single person, standing around on the sidewalk for a few minutes), I also distributed fliers to my neighbors entitled "If you see picketers this weekend, here's what's going on". The flier debunked Scientology's charges that I'm a bigot, stated my concerns, and included a list of questions on the back for those who might be inclined to chat with any picketers on my street. I distributed them on Friday and Saturday mornings to the homes and apartment buildings near me, as well as to the churches on my corner.

My picket was dedicated to all those who had been hurt by Scientology. Lisa McPherson was foremost in my mind, but I also wanted to honor the memory of Rodney Rimando, who joined Scientology in the Bay Area and died at age 21 in late November twelve years ago - his story appeared in the San Jose Mercury on December 5, 1986. I had researched Rodney's story and made up fliers detailing Scientology's lies about Rodney's involvement with Scientology. I also made up a sandwich board sign saying "Did Scientology kill Rodney Rimando?" and, in honor of Wayne Whitney, "Scientology is a scam!"

I loaded up my backpack with hundreds of fliers (half-pagers on Lisa McPherson and Rodney Rimando, as well as printouts of the babywatch logs, an excerpt from the Introspection Rundown, a list of people who've been held against their will, and a bunch of other reference material, plus pens, tape, a stapler, candles, matches, cassettes, and spare batteries, and loaded up myself with my sign, three sandwich signs, my tape recorder, my flier holder, and my headband. ( ... You don't suppose the Scientologists will say I was LOADED?!? <grin>)

As usual, I handed out several fliers on my way to the org. One gentleman asked for a flier. He said his brother worked for the Florida State's Attorney's office and he was familiar with Lisa's death.

MARK/MY WORDS
=============

Although I had planned to arrive at 10 am, SPs like me are chronically late, and I didn't get there until almost 10:30. I soloed for quite a while, greeting familiar faces (such as the couple I'd just given directions to at the Civic Center, and SeaOrgBoy, who politely returned my "good morning") and giving out fliers.

Shortly after my arrival, I acquired a handler. He chose not to tell me his name, but I later learned that it was Mark.

Mark handled me aggressively for perhaps two hours. Because of his somewhat nasty style, I've transcribed nearly all of our conversation, which I will post separately.

(Our conversation was frequently interrupted by my spiel: "I think Scientology is breaking the law. Would you like to know more?" I made a lot of contact and gave away a lot of fliers while talking with Mark. I also added to my regular spiel, encouraging people to contact the IRS, since Scientology's tax-exempt status is up for review. I kept up the waving tech pretty regularly, especially when busses came by.)

Here are some highlights of my conversation with Mark:

Mark repeatedly asserts that I'm picketing because I have emotional problems - that *I* am the issue, not Scientology's crimes, and that my picketing is a cry for help.

Mark repeatedly digs into my personal life to find out what emotional hole in my life is causing me to picket, asking me about my kids, my husband, my boyfriend ("Well, then what about a girlfriend?"); I repeatedly refuse to answer his questions about my relationships.

Mark asks me whether I've had psych treatment and, when I refuse to answer, decides that I have.

Mark indicates that he has a button on my red picketing jammies by repeatedly mentioning them. (Hey! Maybe I'll find a little lapel button and put it on in Mark's honor, so when I wear it he'll know that I know that he has a button on my outfit. <SNARK!>)

Mark calls the homeless people in the Tenderloin "failures."

Mark accuses me of lying. I ask him to identify a lie of mine. He looks at my sign (which says, in part, "Scientology hurt Lisa McPherson") and tells me Scientology didn't hurt Lisa.

Mark says repeatedly that I'm on a vendetta. (Unsure of its precise meaning, I ask him to word-clear it for me. He says, "It's attack just for the sake of attack." Later, at home, I check the dictionary, which says, "an often prolonged series of retaliatory, vengeful, or hostile acts or exchange of such acts." Oops. Maybe Mark should see Astara Wong about some professional word-clearing. ... Since Scientology had never done anything to me before I started picketing, clearly revenge isn't my motivation.)

Mark says all the critics have the same party line and we're DRILLED on it.

Mark asks if I would let someone give me electric shock therapy "just to see how it felt?"

Mark repeatedly fails to respond when I compare Scientology critics to CCHR protestors.

Mark says I shouldn't say anything bad about Scientology unless it's been proven in court.

Mark says Scientology has no crimes.

In discussing Scientology acting like bullies, I state that Scientology does not have the right to break the law and stalk people (like me); Mark says, "Oh yeah? Who provoked everything?" and repeatedly implies that Scientology CAN break the law if they've been provoked enough.

Mark says there are "hundreds of thousands" of people involved in Scientology.

Mark says ARS is a hate group but admits he's only read a few selected posts people have printed out for him.

Mark says I'm slandering people, even though he says I'm staying just barely on the side of the law (... because I'm not ACTUALLY lying, so I'm not ACTUALLY slandering anyone).

Mark slanders Gerry Armstrong, calling him a "thief."

LIQUID REFRESHMENT
==================

After a couple of hours of this, my throat is rather dry, so I tell Taniwha that I'd like to go get something to drink. He's ready for a break, too. I'm nervous about leaving the org with no picketers at all, since I'd said we'd be picketing from 10 - 5, but I haven't seen Tani in ages, and we pop into the cafe for a soothing beverage. (Bill Crawford has been handling Tani, and as we head for the cafe I jokingly suggest that we can leave our signs with Mark and Bill, and they can continue the picket until we return.)

We catch up a bit and talk about the news from Clearwater. As we're talking, we catch sight of Peaches across the street, so we wave her in to join us.

Peaches has brought two signs, and since she's been planning to make a new sign for weeks, I congratulate her.

MY FAVORITE SCIENTOLOGIST
=========================

When we return, I get to talk with Bill Crawford, and (as I recall) Mark latches onto Tani.

Bill asks me for a mint (he'd had onions for lunch) and I'm only too happy to oblige. Yes, folks - a Scientologist has actually accepted candy from me! He asks if I'd had a good time talking with Mark, and I reply that it wasn't as much fun as talking with Bill himself.

Bill starts out by telling me that he's recently been called for jury duty, and he was rejected by one of the laywers, possibly because he was too direct about himself and his opinions.

Mysterious Dude shows up with a splendid new sign, obviously the product of much care and effort. I make sure he's got everything he needs and continue talking with Bill (and fliering pedestrians).

As readers of my previous picket reports know, Bill is a great handler - he's got a sense of humor, he's pleasant, and he's reasonably coherent ... so it's not as revealing to post our entire conversations. I did come across a few distressing blind spots in our chat this time, though, such as his certainty that Hubbard was a great and an honest man, and his belief that my picketing was the result of something bad that had happened to me, rather than compassion and concern for people that Scientology has hurt. (He hadn't mentioned this before, and I was really disappointed to learn that he seemed to think I was dramatizing an incident or something rather than simply acting as an activist.)

Bill mentions that he has ARC for me, and I get to tell him that he's the current holder of the coveted title of Kristi's Favorite Scientologist, which seems to please him.

Bill: What I'd like to do is talk about why in the hell you're so adamant about and see if I can handle that, which is what I used to do as an Ethics Officer. ... I was an Ethics Officer for 7 years, I never locked anybody up. I don't know of anyone who's been locked up because they disagreed with the church.

I mentioned Stacy Young's comment that she'd been held for 8 months.

Bill: I'm just sort of curious as to when this thing started that you got so upset about.

Me: Well, right around when I started picketing, around April. I had read alt.religion.scientology and Clambake ... I was in Scientology for about a month, and as a result of that, I always had an interest in it, and I'd heard stories of people being locked up, and I never believed the stories of people being locked up and children being put in the chain lockers on the Apollo - I thought, that could never happen. And then I heard about Lisa McPherson. And then I started reading some of the other stories that are on the web and have very similar details. And a lot of the people who come out and talk to me are convinced that anything I read bad about Scientology I instantly believe and anything good I negate. And that certainly is not true, and that especially was not true 6 months ago, 12 months ago. And I wanted to find out if this stuff was for real, and that's when I went over to the library and started looking at the actual policies and started reading the real stuff straight from Hubbard's pen. And that's when I began to believe that it was seriously breaking the law.

Bill: But why would you get such a hobby-horse - let me ask you this: have you ever had anything like that happen to you, where somebody locked you up for a while, like your parents?

Me: No, I don't think so. I mean the closest thing I can think of is not being able to get my way when I was a kid.

At this point, Jeff Quiros came out to take pictures of us. He looked like he was going to get some shots of Peaches and Tani from behind, so I called out to them, "Photo time, everybody!" and they turned around for the photo shoot.

Bill talks about how he had been restrained as a small child after an operation, and he hopes my parents never did anything like that. "But straight out of Dianetics - have you ever had anything similar happen to you that would cause you to feel as adamantly as you do?"

Me: No. I've never been locked up. Thank God.

Bill: Did you ever get incarcerated? Even something like being sent to summer camp and they wouldn't let you out?

Me: No. I have a really good imagination.

Cheryl comes out of the org, and I say hi, good to see you, and she says the same. (Cheryl spoke with me briefly during a previous picket. She was very nice and personable. She said she was a student and was taking some courses.)

Bill also brings up psychiatry (HIS personal hobby-horse, although he notes that he doesn't go out and demonstrate against it, implying that it's better NOT to than to be an activist). He does the same $10,000 offer routine that Mark tried, pointing out that there's been an offer of $10,000 for any doctor that will undergo electric shock therapy, and no one's taken them (who?) up on the offer, and why did I think that was? I said because as far as I knew it was not a completely harmless procedure - just one that could help someone in a desperate situation. You don't ordinarily amputate people's limbs, either, but you would in certain circumstances. I don't imagine anyone would take $10,000 to have a limb amputated, either.

Geez. <sigh>

I tell Bill that I think Scientology can do away with bad stuff - such as the Introspection Rundown and the RPF - without losing the parts that Scientologists like himself find valuable.

Bill: What I defend, and what I am for, is number one the technology and number two Mr. Hubbard. Cause in my heart of hearts I know the immense good that he did, and the immense self-sacrifice. I mean, he had money on his own right. He had all that stuff. He didn't take vacations, generally. He thrust his whole life into trying to make things better, flat out. The man was so dynamic I don't think he needed any more power than he had in his own right. I don't think he necessarily needed to get into Scientology - the hours that he put in, that wasn't it. The only thing I can honestly go by is my own experience. When I had a problem, it was with a person - I seldom if ever had a problem with the technology. To this day - there's a book called the Marriage Hat, and I found out Hubbard didn't write it, his wife did. And one of the things it said was if a husband and wife have an argument, that if they can't come to some kind of agreement, that they go with the husband's point of view. And I said well, that's a bunch of bullshit, number one, and number two, who's to say that if a spiritual being is in a woman's body, that that spiritual being is a second class citizen? Of course, women have been second-class citizens in every religion philosophy that has gone down.

... I know that when the FBI thing occurred and Mary Sue Hubbard was involved in breaking into the FBI offices, number one, LRH had her pulled off Scientology lines, and number two, when she was sentenced to jail time, he did nothing to stop 'em, cause she broke the law. And that says something. He certainly, if what everyone else says is true, he had all the money in the world to defend her, and probably could have gotten her off with probation, and he was pissed.

Me: Well, some people interpret that as letting her take the fall.

Bill: And they would. But I've read all of his stuff, and when you get to understand and know an author, there's always a flair. ...

The conversation lags a bit, and Bill tells me a little about his current level. He says he's OT5, and he has levels 6 & 7 paid for, but he wants to go straight to OT8 in one shot, so he plans to take some time off from work, so he's saving his money and paying off some debts and hopes to do OT 6-8 in 2001. He says OT8 is his goal for this lifetime, and I ask if he'll want to do OT9 if it's released during this lifetime, and he says, "Absolutely."

It starts to rain, and I postulate sunshine (to no avail) while Peaches postulates putting up her umbrella (with greater success). Taniwha takes off so he can stave off his impending cold.

Bill asks what my next crusade would be if I stopped picketing Scientology. I think for a bit and say probably China, over Tibet, and perhaps I'd do more to save the redwoods.

We can hear a rival demonstration over on Market Street a block away - it turns out to be a Christian rally for Vineyard Ministries.

Since we were discussing honesty, I ask Bill how important he thinks honesty is, and he says it's very important (actually, he says, "I think it's impeccable," which I think may indicate that Bill could use a little word-clearing his own self.)

Me: Do you think there's any evidence that Scientology or Hubbard ever lied?

Bill: I don't think Hubbard ever lied. I think he gave his version. ... Then you can get into the philosophical thing that one man's truth is another man's fallacy. And to that degree as well, truth is nothing more than an angle or a version -

Me: So you don't think there's any such thing as absolute truth?

Bill: No. I haven't seen it. I haven't experienced it. There's always something that can refute it. And Scientology is no different. It does not work absolutely for every being in the universe.

(While we were talking, we were interrupted for conversations with passersby:

One gentleman asked about my fliers and about Rodney, and compared LRH to Jim Bakker.

Another time, I was relating the story of Lisa's demise and Bill said she was under a doctor's care, so I pointed out that Johnson wasn't licensed to practice medicine and Minkoff prescribed drugs for Lisa over the phone, without examining her.

A woman came by who had been in briefly and was regged really hard and resented not being able to stand up to them. I mentioned the "There was no Christ" quote and Bill said he hasn't heard it - I'll have to try to get him a copy of that.

A couple of a.r.s. readers (Chemiker & a friend) come by to say hi; they ask if there've been confrontations, I say no, I introduce Bill and say he's a total sweetheart)

Phr arrives, and I load him down with fliers.

A new picketer shows up, posing briefly as a passerby:

Me: Hi, would you like some info sir?

Him: OK.

Me: Great - I think Scientology is hurting people and breaking the law, and I want them to stop doing those things. They have policies that I personally have read in official Scientology publications on locking people up.

Him: What do they say about locking people up?

Me: Well, they say if somebody has suffered what they consider to be a psychotic break, they should be locked up and nobody talks to them, and the way they determine their liberty is for their Case Supervisor to ask them for a statement of personal responsibility, and they can't leave until their Case Supervisor thinks they're ready to. Scientology is not licensed to do that to people.

Him: Right, it actually keeps the PTS in a state of enturbulation...

Me: Exactly. ... You seem to have a little bit of background in this. Are you on the Internet?

Him: Yes.

Me: Do you want to give me a nick for my picket report?

Him: Mike.

Me: (teasing:) You're Mike Smith, aren't you?!?

Him: No, I'm not Mike Smith. (I mention "MikeSmith" to Bill, he says he knows two Mike Smiths in Scientology.) I post as Mike de Wolfe.

I'm delighted to meet him and give him a big hug. I give him a sandwich board - yellow - and he picks out a couple of slogans ("Scientology Lies" and "Scientology Attacks Religious Freedom") to staple onto the backing. I tell him I have the anti-squirrel campaign article with me. He has some fliers with him.

More pedestrian interactions: a gentleman offers me $5 to buy one copy of every flier I have. I tell him to keep it and spend it making photocopies of the ones I've given him.

Another gentleman says something about Scientology fucking with him when he lived in Hollywood, and wouldn't say anything more until I turned off my tape recorder. (... and so I'm not going to repeat what he said, since he was clearly wary about sharing it.)

More picketers showed up: first Trina, then Podkayne. I was utterly delighted to meet them both. I loaded them both down with fliers and Poddy took a pair of sandwich boards. Meklar arrived, too, although my notes don't say when. With 8 of us fliering, waving at busses, and strolling the sidewalks, we all got to relax a bit.

Jeff Quiros came out to take some more pictures, and I came over and admired his snazzy new Sony digital camera.

We were all ready for another break, so we adjourned to the cafe yet again for coffee and snacks. We spent at least half an hour warming up and drying off, chatting and getting acquainted, before we headed back out into the rain and chill.

We had pretty well tired out our handlers, and it was getting darker, so the rest of the afternoon was just taken up with general picketer chat. Podkayne mentioned the picket cheers ("2 - 4 - 6 - 8 - who do we enturbulate?") and I bemoaned the fact that I hadn't brought Roland's "I'm An Auditor" song lyrics with me.

IT IS BETTER TO LIGHT A SINGLE CANDLE THAN TO CURSE THE DARKNESS
================================================================

By about 5:15, it had gotten dark, and I suggested we start the vigil. Madwog and a friend appeared for the vigil, as did Bob Just a Wog, and we passed around cups and candles and we lit (and relit) the candles.

We stood in a small circle and took turns speaking of those who had been hurt by Scientology - Lisa McPherson, Rodney Rimando, Scientologists like Honnicut and Safe4mulas who are afraid to speak openly about their concerns about Scientology, and others we had known, or heard from, or heard about, who had suffered because of Scientology. We shared a moment of silence.

WARM FOOD, WARM FRIENDS
=======================

At last, we crossed the street to the Thai restaurant across from the org. They found a table big enough for the group. (Tani and Podkayne weren't able to join us, but by now there were a lot of us: Peaches, Mysterious Dude, Trina, Mike de Wolfe, phr, Bob Just A Wog, Meklar, and Madwog and her friend, plus me.) We ordered a bunch of different dishes and shared all around. I couldn't hear all the conversation at the other end of the table, but I know *I* had some fascinating talks, learning about Apple schools and how people maintain tenuous contact with people who are still in and some of the truly bizarre consequences of Scientology's emphasis on stats.

We ate and sipped tea and talked and laughed and shared for about two hours, until we were all full and rested and considerably warmer.

A few people wanted to go back out for an evening picket, and some of us were getting up to do just that, when a rush of hail spattered against the restaurant's canopy and windows!

We waited a few more minutes, then decided to go out and brave the weather at about 7:15.

Cautious showed up and went outside with us (making it a total of 13 people who picketed today). I was chilly and kept moving, waving at traffic to keep warm. The light from the streetlight was quite bright, and I think our signs were still plenty visible. The rain misting down under the streetlights looked a little like snow. At some point, Cautious, Madwog and her friend, Mysterious Dude, and I were all outside under the streetlight.

A chant occurred to me - "We're here! We're clear! Get used to it!" - and I shared it with the others but I think we'll save it for another time.

Shortly after we started, the lights in the org were turned off and the two staffers disappeared from the lobby.

Madwog lit a lamp she had brought for the vigil and placed it in front of the org's door in memory of Lisa. A staffer immediately popped his head out the door (setting off the org's alarm in the process) to tell her she couldn't put the lamp there.

I bounced around and picketed under the streetlight - I definitely felt I had gotten my second wind.

At about 7:40, we were damp and chilly again and we finally called it a night. We went back to the restaurant to say our goodbyes, and we all headed back to our warm, safe homes.

--
Kristi Wachter

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