Las Vegas Picket Reports

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Subject: Arrested in Vegas
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 13:16:14 GMT

4/19/97. Arrived at the big org 5:27PM. Vehicle count was 8. I'm just walking back and forth, bored as can be, only one clam came out and did not say hello back to me. I've know this guy about 6 years now. About 5:55pm I decide to head over to the little org.

I cross the street to my car and then see a police car coming east on Sahara Ave and making the u-turn one would make to get to the big org. So I wait in my car to see if the cop is going to the org. Sure enough, she does. She pulls in front and has turned the flashing lights on. So I think, what the heck, might as well get it over with, I drive and make a u-turn myself and pull up about two car lengths behind her car. Immediately a second cop shows up in his car and pulls behind me. I just shrug and walk over to the female and say, "hello, you looking for me?"

Immediately she got nasty, said to stand back, keep my hands in view, and put her own hand on her gun butt. The male cop is here by now and he is even nastier. Things got loud real quick. I was in no mood for this macho shit. And now Mary Gay, the ED, #4, comes out and is talking to the male. He don't want to hear it, he wants to yell at me, he gets right next to me and shouts, "why are you picketing"? I shout back, "because I don't like them" And that is all i say.

So the female pulls me to the side and tells me to keep quiet, that I will get my chance to speak. I'm off to the side with the lady and i get tired of seeing her hand on the gun. I demand, loudly, to be searched. She says why, I'm still loud, tell her I don't need her pulling her gun because she feels like it. She would not search me for weapons, but she did stop the macho act.

The male and Mary come over, they want to arrest me for trespassing. I say fine, but i need something in writing, that we are on State property that goes all the way up to the porch. The female says it is city property and that the cult has the property line up to "this line" in the sidewalk. I repeat again that it is State property and that is why the Highway Patrol can cruise on Sahara Ave. This part shut her up. I then tell the three of them that I have spent considerable time and copying fees to get the maps of this property, that I used to always carry them with me for just this situation. That while I do not have them now i can always produce them, so if they want to arrest me for trespassing I would like it in writing. In writing who exactly is claiming "this line" in the sidewalk is the property line. I then ask, "why this line anyway, why not that line, since you are arbitrarily deciding the issue anyway".

The male and Mary go have another conference, female tells me to shut up again. By now I'm calm and decide to make nice-nice noises with the female. This turned out to be a good idea.

Male and Mary come back, Mary reads me something off of a card about trespassing, how if I do it again... some legal formality.

As i say I'm calm by now, I explain to the male that even though the State property line does indeed go up to the porch, I play fair with them and tend to stay close to the curb, which i do not need to do. And that sometimes pedestrians and people waiting at the bus stop force me to swing in a little closer to the building.

So everything is calm, everybody is happy. The male asks me what i am going to do now. Told him i was going to picket the other building.

That did it! :-)

That boy come unglued. Now the cops get really shitty. They start firing questions. You ever been arrested, is that your car, you have insurance. Can't even remember all the questions.

One of the questions was, what is your address. As i mentioned earlier, I decided to tell the truth even though I knew I had not filled out the form i should have.

By this time the clams are all on the porch again, I counted nine of them. The two cops have been moving me down the street away from the org. The three of us were just constantly moving. The male gets in front of me and the female behind. The male does the hand on gun thing and I am being handcuffed.

OK, the female does realize I am not dangerous, sends the male off to do the Radio work while she does the handcuff and talking routine. Why I'm being arrested, etc.

The nice-nice noises I had made earlier came into play. The female decided to not have my car towed off. The male did not like this, but she won. This saved me about $140.00 in towing fees.

Some of the monkeys were absolutely ecstatic. It looked like one woman in particular would have an orgasm. I've only known this one for about 4 years. And me, I'm handcuffed and leaning on a police car. Traffic is slowing as it passes of course, the street has picked up even more people, maybe 20 by now. The male cop is as happy as a clam. heh heh heh

I'm out there handcuffed for about ten minutes before being shoved in a car. The clams lost their joy in that ten minutes. Some of them were actually embarrassed, only one gave me the courtesy of a send off, the rest had already ducked into the building. I imagine a few will blow the cult shortly over this. We had been friends a long time.
And they have to realize that being an ex-member is not a nice thing.

So now the ride to the jail. The female took me in. Once we were away from the org and my car was safe I turned shitty again. This woman did not enjoy the ride in. She said i should leave them alone. I said other people also tell me to shut up and go away, but I'm coming back. She had said earlier, after the handcuffs, that arresting me was a way to solve the problem of my picketing. I wanted to know what her next solution was going to be. She said that by picketing i disturb peace and tranquility. I said , "no shit, that is exactly what a picket does, what do you think it does." We went on like this for awhile. I told her that the cult leaves a trail of broken homes and bankrupt people behind it, that she is lucky, that if someone she knew ever got caught up in the cult she would be happy picketing goes on. The lady went through great pains explaining how unbiased she is towards everything, or how fairly she views everything, something like that. I had ended up by letting her have the final words. What the hell, she had the gun.

I go to court 5/19/97 for this henious crime of not updating my current address within 72 hours of moving.

Both these cops were under the impression that i was not allowed to speak to the clams while picketing. Apparently one of the complaints was that I shouted to the clams. I pointed out that at the picket going on at the Frontier Casino, the picketers use bull horns and boom boxes. These cops seemed to think i was not allowed to speak though.

So I anticipate more problems as I also will now use a bull horn. As soon as I have a lawyer lined up that is.

Cognitive Dissonance
What do my local clams and the internet monkeys think? Pages and pages and pages and pages of instructions on how to handle life. And one ex-member, and a good ex-member also, so befuddles them that they have to use Police.

The most glaring outpoint that occurs to me is this:
Never, not once, has any of them ever challenged the wins and gains i had in Scientology. Never, not once, has one of them questioned how i could possibly picket an organization that has given me so much. I suppose in their hearts they know how truly empty it all is.
And how truly empty such arguments would be.
And yet, if the scene were reversed and a member I knew for 8 years or so were outside picketing, I would be out the door asking him why, asking what the problem is. Because i solve things with communication. Did this years before i ever heard the word 'scientology'. Whenever i used force i always felt like a wimp.

And you call in people with guns to try and stop me. Yeah buddy - you got to be proud to be a Scientologist.

In conclusion. I was not arrested for picketing. But, I feel I was destined to be arrested that day anyway, that they would have thought of something. Considering that I was already in my car when the first cop arrived, and drove up voluntarily, there was no reason for the cops to behave in a hostile fashion. Yet, the opening gestures by both the police was hostile. IMO they came looking for trouble, they came to let me know it is not cool to picket the cult. I'm sure they would have liked it if I had gotten silly out there.

Mary Gay is going to send me proof that "the line" in the sidewalk is the org property line. This should be interesting. I have detailed maps from the County Assayers office that show the property line. In fact, the porch on the building was built _after_ the property line was determined around 1978. The porch is actually about 18 inches on the State property. I know this because one night I had come in with tape measure and measured the front of the building to compare them with the maps.

So was I on private property. NO
They own the building up to the porch. They own _nothing_ on the street. Not one lousy inch. I suppose we will have to meet in court over this. (sigh)

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Subject: Vegas Picket, 6/28/97 - Odhran Fortune

It was a two org kind of day.
9:15am-10:05am. I opened up at the big org, vehicle count was 10. 35 minutes there and no police were called. In fact, I doubt they ever called them at all, they had no air of expectancy about them. Little org had one vehicle, and I'm really glad for that, my minimum requirements were met. I would feel real silly doing a picket when they have no vehicles.

It was hot today, but worse than that, it was windy. (blah) And i was tired and did not feel like going. But when i read that his brother did not recognize him, and that the mother burst out in tears when she saw him, well I just had to go and do it.

So this picket was totally in respect for the friends and family of Odhran Fortune. A little gift that say's I appreciate the love and care you have for one of your own.

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Subject: Vegas Picket, July 4, 1997

My picketing standard has lowered!

I go to do the little org and there is not one lousy vehicle parked there, NONE. Well today I got tired of it, too many times now I have gone there and found no vehicles and done the big org instead.

As I approach the Temple there is no one in sight. Could it be I wondered, is there nobody there at all. But as I rounded the corner, I saw one, a monkey in the window. So this is my new standard for the little org. I'm giving up on finding at least one vehicle. There has to be at least one monkey in the window.

The monkey ignored me, I ignored the monkey.
15 minutes passed, an uneventful picket.
6:53pm - 7:08pm
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Subject: Vegas Picket, Saturday 7/5/97

A most delicious picket, with a very warm ending...

kEvin is in town. He is staying at the Golden Nugget, or Sam's Town. His last name is Rodriquez or Schwartz. Wish I could remember... He will be in Vegas until Wednesday, he has 3-5 people due here monday.

We arrived at the big org around 11am, I forgot to bring hat's for us to wear, left them in the car. So we picket for 20 minutes then go take a break. It is HOT HOT HOT. We get back at 1pm. Vehicle count is 19 and climbing, it probably hit around 25 by the time we left a little after 2pm. The clams have an event going. Oh my were they ever happy to see us. (gr) I suppose the event started at 3pm???

A monkey came out to talk to us. Now I bore easily and tire of clam-speak quickly, so I left Kevin to talk with the monkey. I left Kevin because Kevin is cool, calm, and rational. I do a sweep or two completely ignoring them, suddenly, there is Kevin shouting and waving, "you calling me a liar, is that what you're doing, are you calling me a liar, etc." So I do a big smile and go over to them... I say to the monkey, "you're an ot right?, you smell like one, are you an ot?"

He is. I want to know what number so we can talk about it. The ot goes back on the porch, there are maybe five of them there for a few moments. They shout something about the fact that the ot documents on the internet are not legal! The ot says this with authority! I say, "but they are there, there is nothing you can do about it" They all go back inside. Kevin and I are just going back and forth ignoring them as they arrive for the event. Every now and then we speak to one of them but we are always polite, we really were.

Some dude comes out and tries to act as though his being there were just a casual thing. The guy did a real poor job of acting. I go right up to him and ask, "are you here to handle us" he smiles. I ask if he is OT, he is. I ask what number so we can discuss it. He leaves. :-)

Here is the Warm part, the part that made the picket a resounding success.

Kevin and I are separated, a couple with two beautiful children come around the corner. The children are about 5 years old. They see they sign. Both of them, their eyes go WIDE, he actually has his mouth hanging open as he reads it. I turn my back and position the sign so they can read it easily. And as they are approaching the org and Kevin I am just hoping and hoping that Kevin will leave them alone. Kevin never says one single word, neither of us spoke to them. I think if we had they would have gotten into a defensive mode. As it is they were visibly shaken by my picket sign. Even Kevin said as much after the couple and the children were gone inside the org.

Kevin and I are convinced that we saved that family, perhaps not today, but they are done with it. No question about it. You would have to have been there to appreciate it.

And what does this picket sign say that can cause such a reaction for Newbies to the cult? What lie does the sign contain? What information is on it that has cost them so many members here?

Does The Bridge(tm)
Really Cost
360 Thousand?

I'll put this sign up against Xenu anyday, and i'll bet it costs them more members. Be that as it may.... (there is no bad picket sign)

Kevin may not post about this picket, he asks me to say this for him.. (my words) I was really upset by the Hispanic guy who came out of the org and waited for the bus. I spoke to him and he does not even know what it is about, I've heard they are working the Hispanics and the Blacks, this is very sad.
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Subject: Vegas picket, 7/8/97, Assaulted
Date: Wed, 09 Jul 1997 02:07:59 GMT
Organization: None
Lines: 27
Message-ID: 33c2ef48.175198@snews.zippo.com

Got to the big org at 6:35pm, vehicle count 14.
I'm just walking back and forth. A woman, 35?? years old is going into the org from around the parking. She comes close to me, which is confusing, then throws a drink on me. Some syrup type drink. My shirt is ruined. I think she was trying for my face and missed.

I'm completely stunned and shocked, she laughs and goes up the steps, at that moment Larry Perma (new name), who is or has been the ED of the org, comes out the door. I say to Larry, "look at what she did Larry", Larry smiles and says who, I say Larry, I'm not hearing this we're supposed to be scientologists. Something like that. Larry, smiling, goes inside. (I'm F** mad), and give out with a roar, so loud some of them come flying to the door.. I roar again, and leave.

Now, off to the police station to file the report. The police say that since they threw something it is Battery and not Assault. And I have a witness to this, Larry Perma.

Yea monkeys, we getting closer to our day in court...
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Subject: Vegas Picket, The Next Day
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 04:01:06 GMT

Got to the big org at 6:20, went to 6:55pm and that lovely lady did not come by. She had struck me at 6:46 the day before.

Larry Perma was not there either, which means nothing, except that Mary Gay was there. Mary Gay #5, would not answer me. So, Larry Perma and the woman took the day off. Mary was on shift that morning, I had called and confirmed it. So, they are worried about the Detectives coming. Too bad, they have a full year to worry because I have one full year now to file the charges.

Somewhere, sometime, somehow - A Detective or two will be coming.

Then again, I may never sic the Detectives on my friends.
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Subject: Vegas Picket, Different Day
Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 02:24:52 GMT

15 minutes at the little org, uneventful, 3:37-3:52pm. My #5 Val is still around, Janne and him were the two staff on duty. There were two students in the course room. The curtain was open when I arrived, they left it open. Every now and then they get a streak of defiance and do not shut the curtains on me. For the next few days the curtains will be closed though, they always do this.

Vehicles: big org 6, little org 3.

The big org is interesting these past few months, vehicle counts ranging from 6 to 14 from one day to the next.

They were waiting for me at the big org yesterday, they had a small platoon waiting on the porch at 6pm. So I did not picket.

This report humbly submitted by Ted Mayett, OT 1.1, Cause over two Class V Orgs. (And one Secret Dianetics Center)

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Subject: Vegas Picket, 7/14/97

Big org, 15 minutes. 14 vehicles. 1:30pm
Uneventful, but not really. A white van with tinted windows kept cruising by, it would go through the desert lot behind the org to come back around and cruise by me again. I did not think to get the plate number, next time. I parked at a different spot, big mistake. As I'm going to the car a monkey pretending to be a wog traps me in conversation. This dumb-fuck thinks I don't recognize him from about 7 months ago. I play the game with the fool this time and quickly send him on his way, as a wog. Wish I would have had the time to remain, I'm sure some type of action was coming down. :(

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Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 01:44:35 GMT

It was a two org kind of day. Split-shift.
Big org, 12:13-12:28pm, 6 vehicles Little org, 5:48-6:05pm, 3 vehicles. Both uneventful.

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Subject: Vegas Picket, 7/16/97

Little org, 11:30am, 15 minutes, Uneventful.
Vehicles, zero. And Yes, the answer is Yes.
There was one in the window. But only one!
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Subject: Vegas Picket, Today

Little org, 3pm, 15 minutes, 5 vehicles.
Seems I put down the wrong date yesterday, it is not easy going senile. :-) A newbie saw my sign today. The newbie and the hardcore staff stood in the window laughing at me. I suspect they will treat the newbie gently, and not mention prices even less than usual. So what, some IAS or Flag OT monkeys will eventually come through and mention the key to life at 6 thousand or something else for thousands of dollars.

Enjoy that newbie while you can monkeys, see you tomorrow.

It occurred to me a few days ago that they are really waiting to talk to me at the big org, so I am not even driving by the place. Won't go near the building until they are used to my working the little org.

Then again , maybe I'll be there tonight before closing. You just don't know, you simply don't know. -----
Subject: Vegas Picket, 7/18/97

Little org, 11 am, 15 minutes, Uneventful. Vehicles, one.

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Subject: Vegas Picket, 7/19/97

Little Temple, 11:41am, 16 minutes, Uneventful. Vehicles, 2.

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Subject: Vegas Picket, 7/23/97

The little org and I opened up together for a new day of business. I started 8:53am. 9:05am the first vehicle arrived, by 9:10am there were 3 vehicles.

OSA, I have a problem here, a big problem. At 8:53am there was a child, about 8-10, in the shop. There were no vehicles parked outside. If it turns out that a child is sleeping there all hell will break loose, I will have 50 Las Vegas organizations swooping down on that storefront. I don't mind when you have OT's sleeping there, but I draw the line at children. So fix this scenario, thank you.

Posted to ARS and mailed to info@scientology.net