Deana M. Holmes

Subject: Scientology pickets Holmes residence in SLC, Utah)
From: mirele@super.zippo.com (Deana M. Holmes (NED for OTs Series))
Date: Sun, 07 Dec 1997

Apparently the Church of Scientology doesn't like me very much.

I was informed upon my return from the Clearwater picket that the Co$ had apparently been outside my home here in SLC (Salt Lake City) on Friday. This is an accounting of what happened, given to me by "John", who is a local resident.

"John" stated that at approximately noon on Friday, he heard voices outside our building, and those voices were talking about me. They were outside for a few minutes, and then they retreated down the driveway. Then they picketed for approximately an hour and then "left." When "John" went out to run an errand, he noticed that they had finished picketing and were at various bus stops around the neighborhood. Unfortunately he was unable to see what they had on their signs. When he returned, he found copies of this flyer strewn on the steps of the building:

Later in the evening, "John" went out to the carport. While he was out there, he saw a car across the street, parked on a side street. He noticed that the car's lights were on. He watched from around the corner of the carport as the car slooooooowly crept up the street, towards our driveway. He watched as the lights played on the chain link fence, and then the car turned the corner. He believes that this was linked to the earlier stuff.

"John" has some friends in the Salt Lake Police Department. He made a phone call and talked to one of them. What he was told was this: In order to picket in a residential neighborhood, picketers must have a permit. No permit, they can be asked to leave. Additionally, going up our driveway and placing the leaflets on the steps of the building was trespassing. It seems to me that wog law doesn't matter to these Scientologists, because I don't believe they had a permit, and they most certainly were trespassing on the property.

I will be consulting with an attorney with regards to what I can do in a situation like this. In the meantime, "John" has informed me that if he should see them out there again, either picketing outside on the sidewalk, or on the property itself, that he will call the police. I will likely pay a visit to my nearest neighbors to see what they saw, and if the leaflets were spread further than my apartment building.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me remind you...a "church" did this. Think about it. Regards, Deana

Subject: Re: $CIENTOLOGY PICKETS MINTON'S HOME
From: mirele@super.zippo.com (Deana M. Holmes)
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 13:00:12 GMT

> > Yeah Bernie. It's illegal to picket in a residential area in
> > SLC without a permit. I bet they didn't have a permit.

> Can you check with the clerk's office to see if one
> was filed for that event?

Yep. I did. This is part of a longer story, btw.

On Monday I called over to the org and asked to speak to the DSA. She was the one who answered the phone, and she announced herself as "Judy, holding DSA". I told her who I was and spelled my name. She put me on hold while she got rid of another call and then she came back. I repeated who I was and asked if they had picketed my home on Friday. She said they had, and stated that it was a First Amendment right to picket. I stated that in SLC, you need to have a permit to picket a private residence. Did they have a permit? She claimed that they did. Then I asked her to please give me some advance warning in the future of pickets. She said, "Why should we do that? You didn't give us advance warning of your picket."

(The picket she's talking about was a 30 minute lightning picket from 10:15 am to 10:45 am on Saturday, November 8, 1997. It was in response to the Keith Henson arrest, and I refused to give them my name when picketing. I told them to call LA and tell them it was a Keith Henson memorial picket, and then they'd know what it was about and who was doing it.)

"Ok, whatever," I said. But I warned her that she'd better have a permit in the future. I also told her that if they trespassed on our property again to lay down leaflets, the cops would be called and there would be no tolerance whatsoever on this matter. I also told her that my landlady was somewhat upset about what had happened (although I think she's OK now once I explained that it was the Church of Scientology doing it), and she sounded downright *happy* about this fact. Cretin. I tried to find out how many people were out there and what was on the signs, but she wouldn't tell me, she told me to ask my neighbors as they had seen the signs. After that, there was a bit of non-confront from her, and I told her that if she wasn't careful, she could end up like poor Lisa McPherson, dead after 17 days held in the Fort Harrison. And then the phone call ended.

I proceeded to call down to the police and find out if a permit had been issued. After being transferred to the city, I learned that, no, a permit had not been issued. But I'm not going to make a big deal out of it, because SLC seems to have this requirement that all pickets have a permit. (I believe this is probably illegal, but I would have to do some research into the ordinance to find out more.) But I got the paperwork for a permit and will be submitting it for future pickets, although I fully reserve my first amendment right to just go out there with my sign and picket and if they have a problem with that, then *tough*.

I have a copy of their picket leaflet that was scanned in. It's at http://www.xmission.com/~mirele/flyer.jpg. You'll notice that the wording is somewhat similar to the other leaflets, but they did cut it down considerably and they left out the word "religious" as in "religious bigot." (Not that I'm a religious bigot, but it seemed that the DSA here was trying to get a bit imaginative and why I'm not sure.) However, it's apparent that the order to leaflet and picket came from Higher Up, and that the leaflet is similar enough to the other leaflets that have been placed that there's some sort of similarity to it.

Now, let me say something here. I am not opposed to picketing. However, I think that good taste dictates that you don't picket a person's home. The last group to do this on a massive scale, the pro-lifers, were universally excoriated for doing this. It's my belief that this is yet another Foot-Bullet on the part of Scientology. It's been suggested to me that I go out and picket the homes of those who picketed me. I wouldn't do that, because it's just not right. But "right" apparently doesn't seem to matter to Scientology.

I also think that this coordinated effort to harass, which has been seen in 5 states so far (California (2), Utah, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Massachusetts), may set Co$ up for a class-action suit to stop the harassment. I personally felt a bit threatened by their action in picketing my house. Not because I was worried so much by the neighbors' reactions (I knew when I said Church of Scientology most people would discount what was going on), but because it smacks of "We know where you live." Well, I know where the Org is, and as I told Judy, all this picketing has done was to harden my resolve to bring the Church of Scientology to account for its actions. Deana M. Holmes

(different post)
Go to (http://www.xmission.com/~mirele/flyer.jpg) for the bigot leaflet.

Remember, even though it's not the same as the other leaflets others received, the DSA of the SLC org admitted to me by phone that they had placed the leaflets.

(Different post, newspaper article)

http://www.the-event.com/pg3a.htm

An excerpt:

Scientologists to Salt Laker: Picket Our Hotel and We'll Picket Your House

Upon returning from a weekend in Clearwater, Fla., Salt Laker Deana Holmes was greeted by her landlord holding a flyer with her photograph on it and bold type which read: "Deana Holmes is not what she seems. Bigotry alive and well with Deana Holmes."

(Go to the web page for the rest of the article, but I can't resist the following two quotes.)

"We do not have an organization," Holmes says. "The Scientologists think we exist but we don't. It's anarchy. We're just expressing our right to speak freely."

and Glenn Barton on me (is it .sigable? lemme know):

"I have no regard for Miss Holmes. She is not a person of any moral belief," he says. "I would have no difficulty branding her a religious bigot."

The article was bannered on the first page of The Event, and the hard copy has a cartoon of two people holding picket signs... Deana

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