Scientology vs. Anonymous: Local battle heats up
Boston protest organizer faces court date for alleged criminal acts
In what the top Scientology representative in Boston calls an
ideological war between the church and its newest vocal opponent, a
scheduled Saturday protest by group Anonymous alleges the church
"disconnects" church members from those who object to its teachings.
"They want to create chaos and we want to create order," said the Rev. Gerard Renna of the Boston Church of Scientology.
The
April 12 demonstration is one in a series since January. Anonymous
alleges its protests prompted Scientology's lawyers to wage a campaign
of outing Anonymous members and threatening some with legal action.
In Boston, those threats materialized.
The
Church is bringing Anonymous organizer Gregg (his last name withheld at
his request, pending his April 16 hearing), to court on two charges:
Trespassing and criminal harassment.
Church attorney Michael J. McCormack filed the complaint. McCormack did not immediately return a phone call for comment.
Gregg received permits for Feb. 10 and March 15 Boston protests outside the 448 Beacon St. church.
During
the March 15 protest - during which Gregg maintains he held a sign and
later picked up trash - a man with a camera, "took my picture and said,
'How's probation going?' I said, 'Fine.' He said, 'It won't be next
week.'"
Gregg said he is on probation for a guilty plea to a
nonviolent crime, making him the perfect target for a vengeful church.
Following the plea, the case was sealed.
"We just got [Gregg's]
name and interestingly enough he's a convicted felon," Renna said.
"Computer piracy. A convicted felon has a right to free speech. As long
as people know he's a convicted felon, that's fine."
Gregg also
received a letter from law firm Latham & Watkins, alleging
participation in violent threats against Scientologists.
According
to California attorney Graham E. Berry, who works pro bono for
Anonymous, the Latham letter went to "many hundreds of people"
associated with Anonymous protests.
"We haven't done anything illegal and we don't plan to," Gregg said.
Renna
countered, "When someone has a mask and they come to your church, the
fact of the matter is they're covering up something."
Suffolk
County District Attorney spokesman Jake Wark said the April 16 hearing
could determine probable cause and result in Gregg's arraignment on the
church's charges.
Operation Reconnect
Anonymous
announced its scheduled April 12 protest in Boston will also occur at
locations throughout the United States, focusing on allegations the
Church of Scientology isolates its members.
Anonymous: "The
Disconnection Policy isolates Scientologists by requiring them to stop
all communication with family members or friends who are critical of
Scientology."
Scientology: "We know of 2 1/2 percent of these
individuals [members and their families or friends] will have harmful
intents to others," said the Rev. Gerard Renna. "They will be asked to
leave ... excommunicated. They only seek to harm and impede the forward
policy of Scientology."
