“They’ll probably tell you they have a 50 percent attendance rate—that is important for them to tell you because that helps them keep their brand as the fastest growing minority religion,” Jacob Mercy told WW Saturday morning. “This brand makes numbers seem so large people wouldn’t possibly think it could be a cult.”
Mercy was talking to WW at the sixth monthly Anonymous protest (see what happened in May here) in front of Portland’s Church of Scientology. As at previous protests, some of the 20-odd participants wore Guy Fawkes masks like those in the movie V for Vendetta, while others wore bandannas or, like ringleader Mercy, went unmasked.
Mercy (pictured above, next to column) is a Portlander in the process of writing a book on the rise of Anonymous or “Anons”, the international group launched after Tom Cruise’s January YouTube debacle (in which the church tried—ultimately unsuccessfully—to suppress a video of prominent Scientologist Cruise waxing fruitloopy about his faith) and dedicated to stopping Scientology practices via peaceful means.
The protesters, a mixed bag of twenty- to fortysomethings, convened at Pioneer Square in the late morning for a quick rundown on the legalities of a peaceful protest. An Anon member reminded the group, “Remember, they are well-informed in the court system—if we slip up, we’ll end up in court.”
With that the group tromped off, clad with accusatory signs (”Scientology Kills,” “The Church of Scientology is a Criminal Organization”), blank name-tags and spirits driven by conspiracy theory, the group marched off to Portland’s Church of Scientology building on Southwest Salmon Street. Apart from a police warning to one protest-crasher (below) who kept wandering into the street, the event saw little confrontation.
The mission of this month’s protest: Bring Scientology’s “Operation Snow White” to the public eye.
“Under the [Snow White] operation,” says Mercy, “Scientology operatives, committed the largest infiltration of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in History.” Anonymous members cite the documented case U.S. v. Mary Sue Hubbard, which they say, exposed an elaborate scam complete with wiretapping and theft of documents from government offices in order to rid the government of unfavorable information on Scientology and discover tax exemption data. In the 1979 case, Mary Sue Hubbard, Scientology founder Ron Hubbard’s wife, was convicted along with other Scientologists and sentenced to 5 years in prison (she died in 2002).
Portland Anons say they are avid in exposing the operation to the public because it also sheds light on what protesters called the “Guardian’s Office,” or the Scientologists’ Operations of Special Affairs. According to Mercy, those found guilty in US. v. Mary Sue Hubbard were part of this spy group.
“Guardians are covert operatives, responsible for monitoring anti-Scientology affairs and defectors,” said Mercy, who said the Scientologists have a history of following protesters—many of them former Scientologists—to their homes and heckling them. The personal retribution, he explains, is a major reason protesters wear masks to hide their identities.
Though defiant in character, Mercy said he was not unmasked to make a statement: “They have already seen my face—and have my photograph.”
To confirm the Scientologists’ tracking methods Mercy’s gaze shifted upward to the Church’s third floor window. He pointed: “Look, there at the blinds – they are watching us.” Immediately the blinds, which had previously been parted by a lens, returned streamline.
Gwen Mayfield-Barnard, a 22-year Scientologist and current reverend of Portland’s chapter, oversaw outdoor filming and observed protesters from behind the church’s front glass doors. She offered another perspective on the protest.
![Gwenbarnard1[1]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2220/2481065825_9dd11660b6_m.jpg)
“They call us that [cult] because they know it is an insult,” said Mayfield-Barnard (pictured above at the May protest). “I am sorry to see a group of people who believe everything they read on the Internet.” As for the mysterious upstairs lens, she said, “We record everything in case something gets out of hand.” (Maybe they would have missed something with only one camera.)
Mayfield-Barnard maintained a matriarch’s composure during WW’s visit, calling out “There are cookies!” and gesturing to a table laden with nibbles whenever a new Scientologist walked in the door. She cited her own positive experience as a waitress after taking her first Scientology communication class: “At the end of my shift, my manager told me of all the compliments I had received.” The church, she says, sees the classes they offer as tools to self-betterment. “People come to us with aspects in their life that they want to handle. The courses we offer help to address these,” she says.
And according to Mayfield-Barnard, the church is flourishing in Portland. With about 650 members Mayfield-Barnard says she’s seen in the last 2 months and 400 more now-and-then members, the church is ready to expand from its 80-seat chapel. She smiles while envisioning Scientology’s newest asset, the historic Stevens Building. At 12 floors, the building is a nine-floor upgrade from the current digs. Mayfield-Barnard says the new chapel, bought according to the Portland Business Journal for $5.38 million in cash, will seat 250. The move is anticipated in 2010.
In contrast to Mayfield-Bernard’s insider depiction of Scientology, many Anons are former Scientologists and believe the Church a sham, organized to make money while qualifying for tax reductions. One former Scientologist—who preferred to remain, yes, Anonymous—says, “Scientology is a flagrant abuse of human rights – founded on the premises of programming members and making money.”
Mayfield-Barnard’s response to protester accusations? “I just don’t understand them, to a point of incomprehensibility.” Briefly losing composure, she said, “I don’t know who has been feeding them such a load of poo.”
At that moment, a Scientologist walked in, and she recovered herself. “There is always a friend who needs cookies,” she said cheerfully.
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Tags: Thetan Beat
"a load of poo." Oh Gwen…
I wouldn’t really agree that he’s our ringleader. One of the great things about Anonymous is that we’re a group of consensus, not one person’s will.
http://www.pdxanon.info
Wow! she has that same goofy look, "dont you wish you were as cool and righteous as me" that Christians have….
"A load of poo?"
Oh, mercy! How much did she spend on Scientology’s communication courses to achieve the ability to craft such a feculent fecal phrase?
What a silly, half-informed article. Interesting that you say the Scilon woman is "matriarchal," in view of the coerced abortions in Scientology’s paramilitary force, the "Sea Org." You would not have called the protestors conspiracy theorists had you done 10 minutes of research about Scientology before writing this article. Try http://www.xenu.net and http://www.xenu-directory.net. Until then, you fail.
dude, calm the fuck down, although I do have to agree, the scilon is not matriarchal at all, just a silly fat cow trying desperately to win the fight by putting on a nice face for the camera
I’ve been a Scientologist for over 3 decades. These Anons have a propaganda machine fired by the rapidity of the Internet and the tendency of some people to believe what they read in the rags. Their movement is dying because nobody gives a Rats A** about lies and hatred and bloated misinformation. Their protests are losing "converts" by any objective number crunching. These are mainly kids that, in some cases think they are fighting for something good, but have zero clue what Scientology is. It has brought me nothing but happiness and a great life, along with my kids, who are drug addicts and porn purveyors like the Anon websites. Get a life guys.
Rikki, your kids are drug addicts and porn purveyors? I can see why they’re happy.
Maybe Ms. Mayfield Barnard should watch this video of a recent incident in L.A. It illustrates just what sort of scientologist "poo" is being protested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5W8ALB0SNU
Aww Rikki. Flunk! Low raid attendance is a poor indicator of performance or impact. No matter, a single protester can hand out hundreds of flyers. Actually we figured out that we didn’t need so many frontline anons because 99.99% of the people we talk to already know the CofS is a scam. We DO know what Scienotlogy is about, because all the Church literature is available online. Even the new Basics, absolutely free. And when OT IX and X are presented, I assure you we’ll see it way before you do. Your ‘church’ lies to you about who we are and are not, but you are so conditioned that you’ll believe anything you are told.
Sorry to hear about your kids, I hope they’ll get off the porn and drugs.
Rikki darling,if I call Hubbard a liar, cheat, failed abortionist, bigamist, war zero, it’s not out of spite but due to information I have gathered which I can verify for myself as true.
I would rather trust my own judgement than yours because you are thinking to order. I can visit all websites without the imposition of an external control. We know that if you overstep the mark by looking too closely at the evidence contained in xenu.tv or ex-scientology kids etc or simply engaging in meaningful dialogue you will be punished. PTS, SP, RPF, Fair game, Disconnection, all these are your fate if you do not toe the party line. We understand that you are afraid.
What information does the organisation have on you in your PC files? Anything you don’t want us to know? Don’t worry about that, we don’t care about your past, we just want you to stop supporting the abuses and crimes began by Hubbard and continued by Miscavige.
A few clarifications:
1.) A lot of churches have lower attendance rates than reported, due to the difficulty inherent in tracking. Even allowing for this variation, Scientology’s own statistics make very, very little sense.
2.) I am absolutely not a ringleader, and emphatically and categorically deny any claim to the contrary. Anonymous is leaderless.
3.) Not the largest infiltration of the IRS — the largest infiltration of the United States government.
4.) The OSA is no longer known as the Guardian’s Office, and it is not exclusively devoted to harassing critics.
5.) "Heckling" is an awful mild description of the treatment received by people like Mark Bunker and Paulette Cooper.
To Rikki and anyone else who is interested:
I’ll be happy to provide documented evidence of all of our claims. Contrary to what you may have heard, we’re not drug addicts, we’re not terrorists, and we’re not getting paid. We’re people with serious concerns, and we’re not going away.
Rikki, the crimes of the Church of Scientology are heavily documented in court cases and testimonies by ex-members.
You people tried to infiltrate the US government, tried to drestroy Paulette Cooper’s life along with other critics.
Your actions in Europe are even more outrageous because despite all your claims about not doing that kind of things anymore, you people have tried to infiltrate the government of Greece, kidnapped a woman in France, tried to infiltrate institutions of mental health in the UK and in Belgium Scientology is being tried for fraud.
actions speak louder than words and your actions show you can’t avoid the criminal nature of your organization.
"Scientology" is a load of made-up idiotic trash that no at-least-semi-intelligent person would spend much time getting involved in. It’s ludicrous and pathetic, and only embarrassing twits waste their lives falling for its ludicrous blather.
OH NO! I read this article on the internet! IT MUST NOT BE TRUE.
Gwen, welcome to the 21st century. The internet is a major information source. YOUR corporation chooses to disseminate information on the internet, so it’s safe to assume that all of that information is false as well. Because I read it on the internet.
Poo.
Look at the debate, reasonably, logically and from both sides of the story… Anonymous only began attacking the "church" of Scientology AFTER the "church" sued YouTube for hosting fair and perfectly legally distributed free information… Basically Anonymous took up arms and defended free speech when no one else would… Now, look at the "church" and it’s motivations.. Why would they sue youtube for hosting a video of a well-known Scientologist promoting Scientology? are they themselves so ashamed of their beliefs and pracises that they feel they have to hide them from the world? or are they perhaps feeling guilty about something? Either way, I personally am concerned about any organisation that feels it needs to keep secrets, and not only that, it needs to attack others in order to ensure the sercrecy of those secrets..
http://poetry.blat.co.za/
Rikki, I’m not sure what your definition of ‘a great life’ is, but from what you say about your own kids, I’d rather not try what you’re doing.
I had a look for myself, and it seems the court record and reputable newspapers are full of information about Scientology – information that you should read before even thinking about letting Scientology near your wallet.
A recent piece from ABC Nightline revealed the experiences of exscientology kids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJu-j4aa90Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeKzuyyIfG0
TIME Magazine exposed the harmful side of Scientology with this famous article:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972865,00.html
And the Associated Press reported that Belgian authorities are pursuing criminal charges against Scientology:
http://a.abcnews.com/International/WireStory?id=3555811&page=1
I don’t get the "believe everything you read on the internet" rationale when Scientologists believe everything in Dianetics, written by a semi-successful Sci-fi writer from the 50’s, L. Ron Hubbard, who also happened to be a well-documented pathological liar. Millions may have had the misfortune to take a course in Scientology, but the card-carrying membership of Scientology, world-wide, is less than 100,000. They are a lunatic fringe group, that is loaded with billions of dollars, from investments in real-estate and other things, earned from the exploitation of people who pay the ridiculous sums for their courses or work for them at slave wages. Their power is only in their money, not in the "tech" or in their "superpowers." It is one super powerful scam, and it will collapse under weight of the information age.
Regular Scientologists are punished if they read anti-Scientology information or even "think" badly about L. Ron Hubbard. That is, the system of Scientology is a system of mind control. They are trained not to think, and they are taught that this is freedom, just following without thinking.
Hannah Hultine, this is a well written and journalistically balanced story! Give the girl a raise!
Poor Gwen Mayfield-Barnard is as brainwashed as I used to be when I was a long time member, but for a moment there, your questioning opened up the blinders so the truth could enter her mind. Sadly, the blineders were shut by her fear. One is not allowed to question anything about scientology and Gwen Mayfield-Barnard knows it.
Kudos to Jacob Mercy! However, there are no leaders in Anonymous, particularly ringleaders. Anonymous is a leaderless gathering of minds and masks with exscientologists ( masked or not. Jacob is just someone who is going the extra mile to get the informatiom out and I will certainly buying his book when it comes out.
Who cares about the Internet?
Read some news and magazine journalists: the 1991 Time Magazine article, the 1986 Forbes piece, the six-part 1990 Los Angeles Times series, the 1980 Reader’s Digest article, the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1980 St. Petersburg Times series on the takeover of Clearwater, the 2006 Rolling Stone article, the 1984 Sunday Times Magazine piece, the 1968 Life magazine article, the 1986 L.A. Weekly article, the 1994 Washington Post article, the 1997 L.A. Weekly Article on Study Tech, the 1997 New York Times article on their tax-exempt status, the 1980 American Lawyer piece on Scientology’s war against judges, the 1999 New Times L.A. piece on the takeover of the Cult Awareness Network, the eight-part 2001 New Times L.A. series, the Maisonneuve profile of Gerry Armstrong from June 23 of this year, or the lengthy Village Voice article from June 30 of this year.
Or see what television journalism has to say: watch the 1998 20/20 report, 1998 Dateline NBC report on Bob Minton, the 1998 CBS Public Eye report on Lisa McPherson, the 1968 British documentary "The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard", the 1998 Panorama expose, the 1999 German documentary "Missing in Happy Valley", the 1995 The Big Story expose "Inside the Church of Scientology", the 1985 60 Minutes report, the 1998 A&E special "Inside Scientology", the 1997 Secret Lives report on L. Ron Hubbard, the 1997 60 Minutes report, the 2006 Anderson Cooper report on the Nevada vault, the infamous 2007 Panorama investigation "Scientology and Me", the 1992 Nightline report with an interview of David Miscavige, or the Nightline report from April 24 of this year.
Or some book-length journalism: Russell Miller’s Bare-Faced Messiah (1987), Jon Atack’s A Piece of Blue Sky (1990), Paulette Cooper’s The Scandal of Scientology (1971), L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman? (1987), Robert Kaufman’s Inside Scientology (1972), George Malko’s Scientology: The Now Religion (1970), or Stewart Lamont’s Religion Inc. (1986).
Or government inquiries: Australia’s 1965 Anderson Report, the UK’s 1971 Foster Report, New Zealand’s 1969 The Dumbleton-Powles Report, or Canada’s 1970 Lee Report.
Or court decisions: Armstrong v. Church of Scientology (L.A. Superior Court Case No. C420153 1984), Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology (212 Cal. App. 3d 872, Cal. App. 2d Dist. 1989), Allard v. Church of Scientology (58 Cal.App.3d 439, Cal. App. 2d Dist. 1976), or the 23 July 1984 UK High Court of Justice decision by Justice Latey.
Or see what the scholars have to say: the September 2003 issue of the Marburg Journal of Religion.
Well, OK, the Internet’s good for this: Google the names of the people responsible for these reports and see how the Church tried to destroy their lives.
Dave2 – you forgot the bastion of journalism: Maxim. August 2008.
Ok, Gwen. What’s in those cookies?!
Terryeo, OSA/DSA SHILL… http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Terryeo
As for this "woman" who runs the Porland branch of the cult:
Gwen Mayfield-Barnard is the documented DSA leader for Portland. Her home:
2811 SE MAIN ST, Portland, Oregon, 97214
(503) 232-9439
Man, the one month I’m not able to come and we get a reporter? Good job PDX anon on getting the word out for yet another month. And thank you, Willamette Week, for paying attention. I won’t point out the errors in the article as this has already been done numerous times. And oh, Gwen, you know better than that.
Dave2, thank you for that extensive and comprehensive list of non-internet sources.
And thank you Williamette Week for pounding the pavement and doing your research!
I wish Anon would go after the real cult — Christianity. Now that would be fun.
Oh, Willamette Week, always so close but not quite right. You write the article, but you fail to acknowledge the facts. You call it a conspiracy theory, and then later on link to a documented COURT CASE proving it to be true. Your article needs to agree with itself (and stop sucking on Gwen’s ‘matriarchal’ teet) but overall; good job in continuing to inform people that Scientology is a horrible organization that won’t be around long enough to move into that fancy new building in 2010.
Maybe WW is a just a wee bit afraid of being "fair gamed." As long as they label the anons ‘conspiracy theorists’ and don’t appear to take them too seriously, they won’t seem like too much of a threat to selfosohpy
just a few things:
1 we do not have a ringleader
2 unfortunately this protest was small. we actually have about 40 usual protestors
3 gwen herself is one of the reasons we are so serious about it in portland. were you aware that she stole numerous books which were critical to scientology from libraries all around oregon and burned them?
Excellent article. Plus, the reporter is HOT.
Nice work, WWeek! Hope to see continued coverage about Scientology and their sociopath leadership again soon.
(P.S. How about some investigative work by Nigel Jaquiss?)
Anons have NO leader, that is the whole point, anonymous is a leaderless entity, a hive mind, journalistic research is important in any article, please exercise that advice.