Bob
Minton has been profiled in print and on TV, in the U.S. and
abroad. His courageous stance against the Scientology
organization started when he spoke out against Scientology's
attempts to shut down an internet newsgroup,
alt.religion.scientology, in 1995. |
Bob
Minton |
Intrigued
by a group that would go to such lengths to silence its critics, Bob
contacted some of the victims of Scientology to find out more about
it. Upon learning firsthand the true nature
of Scientology, Bob set out to help those who have been victimized and
prevent others from suffering the same fate.
In his
speech Bob quoted from an editorial in the St. Petersburg Times
that asked
"Can Anyone Stand Up to Scientology?"
Read
the St. Pete Times Editorial
A week
later, the New York Times followed up with its own editorial from
Frank Rich.
Read
the New York Times Editorial
Many
people have stood up to Scientology and continue to do so, but no one has
invested as much time, energy and money as Bob.
In
his CIS speech, Bob mentioned that a German TV show was
airing the night of his speech. That show profiled
Bob Minton. View
the German Show. |
Bob
Minton at Fort Harrison Hotel |
"Dateline
NBC" also ran a lengthy report on Bob. The show originally
aired on June 16, 1998. The broadcast is available online, but
not through our site.
If
you would like to watch NBC's Dateline piece entitled "The
Crusader," copy and paste this url into your browser:
http://www.users.wineasy.se/noname/multimed/index.htm
Bob
Minton has frustrated and enraged Scientology by leveling the playing field. No
longer can Scientology follow Hubbard's policy that calls for them to
destroy their critics -- as Hubbard specifically instructed, "ruin them utterly."
Nowhere is
the danger of Scientology clearer than in the horrifying circumstances
of Lisa McPherson's tragic death.
After her family had already brought a civil suit for wrongful death
against Scientology, Bob called Lisa's relatives and asked if he could help. Since then, Bob has
generously financed the civil case against Scientology.
In
December 1997, The New York Times published an article about Bob's
involvement in the Scientology issue, including the Lisa McPherson
case.
Read
the New York Times Article
In
December of 1998, Bob Minton was interviewed about the Lisa
McPherson picket by the local news.
View
the newscasts.
|
Bob
in front of Clearwater Courthouse |
Bob lived in Boston for a number of years, so the Boston media have been
interested in his experiences with Scientology.
Read
the Boston Globe article about Bob.
Greater
Boston |
When the Boston PBS affiliate wanted to do a show about Scientology, they
invited Bob to be a guest.
View
"Greater Boston"
|
Also
appearing on the Greater Boston show were Scientologists Sylvia
Stannard and Frank Offman, both members of Scientology's infamous
intelligence arm known as the Office of Special Affairs, or OSA.
Little did Bob know what an impact Frank Offman would later have on
him.
A year
after the taping of "Greater Boston," Bob and Jesse Prince
were picketing outside the Boston Scientology Org when Bob was
attacked by Frank Offman. In watching the video of the event it
is very evident that these OSA operatives were under orders to
orchestrate an
incident that would result in Bob's being arrested. They succeeded.
OSA
hoped to use this videotape, shot by another OSA operative,
Kevin Hall, to get Bob convicted of battery. (Viewer
discretion advised.)
View
the Boston Assault
|
Frank
Offman in Bob's face |
But after
hearing from Bob's attorney that the videotape showed the two OSA
operatives repeatedly assaulting Bob, the judge threw out the charges
against Bob.
Frank
Offman |
The
New England Cable News Network ran a story about what had
happened.
View
the Newscast |
Bob
later picketed again at the Boston Org. He videotaped his encounters for
Mark Bunker's website, XENU TV. View
the Pickets |
Scientologists
at Boston Org |
The
Scientologists act aggressively at these pickets because they are
following L. Ron Hubbard's directive: "Always attack, never
defend." They are told that anyone who attacks Scientology
is a criminal and thus they feel justified in their attacks.
|
The
attacks happen not just at pickets but in the media as
well. In this radio broadcast from Los Angeles, OSA
operative John Carmichael viciously attacked Bob.
Listen
to the Radio Show |
As Board
Members of FACTnet, Bob Minton and Stacy Brooks were invited to speak at the Leo J.
Ryan Conference in January of 1999. John Carmichael and Sylvia
Stannard were two of the Scientology operatives who attended the event
to monitor it for OSA.
Bob
Minton gave an opening night address and Stacy Brooks led members of
FACTnet on a panel about the use of the internet to inform
people about Scientology.
View
Highlights of the Conference |
Leo.
J. Ryan Conference |
At the Leo
J. Ryan Conference, Bob and Stacy met Mark Bunker, who is now in charge
of LMT Media. Bob provided Mark with the patented MintonCam, a
video camera used to document Scientology's abuses.
Bob
and "Croc" |
After
Mark was assaulted by Scientologists in Los Angeles on the
Fourth of July Weekend, 1999, Bob, Stacy and Mark flew to
Clearwater for a picket.
View
the picket
|
By mid
1999, Bob made the decision to establish a watchdog group to help people
who have been abused by Scientology. Because it had been the dying
wish of Lisa McPherson's mother to provide this kind of assistance, he
received permission from Lisa's aunt, Dell Leibreich, to name the
organization after Lisa. He also decided to establish the group where
it would help as many Scientologists as possible -- in Clearwater,
Florida.
This was
how the Lisa
McPherson Trust was created. As the team assembled in
Clearwater in December 1999, Bob Minton and some future LMT staff members
informed the participants of a "Say No to Drugs" race that
it was sponsored by Scientology.
The runners
were also not told that the proceeds went to various Scientology
front groups.
View
the picket
|
"Say
No to Drugs" race |
Bob Minton
tried to lease space in downtown Clearwater for the LMT offices, but
Scientology threatened the property owners and forced them to refuse
to rent to him. Undeterred, Bob decided to
purchase a building in downtown Clearwater, as close to the
Scientology buildings as possible.
|
Despite
Scientology's best efforts to thwart the deal, on January 5,
2000, Bob became the owner of a building at 33 N. Fort Harrison
Avenue in Clearwater, two
doors down from Scientology's Office of Special Affairs.
View
the opening of the Trust
|
There is a
small side street shared by Scientology and the LMT named Watterson
Street. Shortly after the LMT opened, Watterson became the
center of attention as the Trust held picket signs up to try to
communicate with the Scientologists getting off the buses for
dinner.
Scientology
responded to the picket by calling the police. The head of
OSA, Mike Rinder, tried to convince the police to arrest Trust
members.
View
the picket |
Mike
Rinder |
Scientology
convinced the city of Clearwater to paint white lines across Watterson
and on the sidewalks on both sides of the street to keep the staff of
the LMT from walking past any Scientologists.
White
Lines on Watterson Street |
Clearwater
City Manager Mike Roberto (since resigned) was on hand to help
the Scientologists in any way he could.
View
the white lines video |
After just
a few weeks in Clearwater it became clear to us that the relationship
between the city and Scientology had changed dramatically. Mike
Roberto and his assistants had actively tried to prevent us from
leasing or purchasing property at the suggestion of Scientology.
Bob and
Stacy asked for a meeting with Mike Roberto. Through mix-ups in
the mail, it was thought that Roberto was avoiding meeting with the
Trust. Later, when the meeting actually occurred, Roberto
threatened to shut us down if we interfered with his plans for
downtown.
Prior to
that meeting, Bob Minton spoke for the first time at a Clearwater City
Commission Meeting.
Bob
Minton in the Commission Chambers |
To do so, he and Stacy had to leave in the
middle of Gabe Cazares' 80th birthday Party but they returned to fill
everyone in on the proceedings.
View
the events |
Prior to
the LMT's opening, Scientology orchestrated another arrest against Bob
Minton for "battery." Once the arrest occurred, Scientology convinced a judge to grant them an injunction to keep
Bob Minton away from Scientology's property.
Bob was to
stay 10 feet away from the Scientologists...they were to stay 20 feet
away from Bob.
Scientology
later convinced the judge to add other LMT members to the
injunction. The local news reported on the additions.
View
the newscasts |
Judge
Penick |
Refusing to plea bargain, Bob went to trial on battery charges for the
incident that occurred between him and OSA operative Richard Howd. Attorney Denis deVlaming
clearly explained to the jury how Bob was set up by OSA. In educating
the jury about the policies of Scientology, Denis was able to show
that Scientology was trying to manufacture evidence against Bob to label
him a criminal. DeVlaming was able to show the jury that this was
based on policy by Hubbard that "anyone who criticizes Scientology is a
criminal."
Denis
deVlaming
|
The jury
found Bob not guilty after only thirty minutes of deliberation.
One member of the jury said she felt Bob had been set up, and
others expressed concerns that
Scientology would come after them. The local media reported on
the not-guilty verdict.
View
the newscasts |
It is
interesting to take the pulse of the city of Clearwater when Bob and
others picket downtown. From the sound of the car horns as folks drive by,
they appreciate what we are trying to do.
This
was especially true on April 28, 2000 as the car horns often
drowned out our voices as we spoke.
View
the picket |
Clearwater
Picket |
For the second year in a row, Bob was invited to
come address the Leo J. Ryan Conference in Stamford,
Connecticut.
Leo
J. Ryan Speech |
Stacy
again conducted a panel discussion about the importance of the
internet in sharing information about cults. Other
speakers included Stephen Kent and Dr. Robert J. Lifton.
View
highlights of the Conference |
Stamford
was just the first travel destination for the LMT in 2000. In
June, Bob, Stacy, Jesse and Mark visited Leipzig, Germany, where Bob
was presented with the first Alternative Charlemagne Award.
The
award was presented to Bob by Ursula Caberta, the Director of
the Task Force on Scientology from Hamburg, Germany.
View
the Award Ceremony |
Bob
with Ursula Caberta |
Ursula is
a very good friend of Bob's and other staff at the LMT, so she was
invited to visit Clearwater on her vacation.
Ursula
at the Airport |
When
Ursula arrived in July, OSA operative AL Buttnor organized a group of Scientologists to harass her
at the Tampa Airport.
View
Highlights of Ursula's Trip |
Ursula's
visit to Clearwater coincided with an important election in the
city. Downtown Clearwater has been practically deserted for
years save for the troops of Sea Org members walking through the
streets. The city manager, Mike Roberto, struck a deal with out
of town developers in which the city would have given the developers a
lease on much of the downtown for a dollar a year. The people of
Clearwater voted down this proposal saying it would only benefit
Scientology.
Bob
Minton spoke about that vote at a Clearwater City Council
Meeting days after that vote and very shortly before Ursula's
arrival. Al Buttnor again orchestrated a Scientology
response. This time to Bob's comments.
View
the City Council Meeting |
Bob
at City Council Meeting |
The
attacks on Bob Minton by Scientology continued to escalate after the
LMT opened its doors. OSA attempted to get him indicted on bogus
money-laundering charges stemming from debt buy-back transactions in
which was involved in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Scientology
used John Fashanu, a Nigerian who became a soccer star in England, as a front man
for a report put together by Scientology P.I. David Lee. The
"Fashanu Report," as it became known, is still being
used by Scientology to libel Bob even months after the
Nigerian Senate investigated the report and announced that Bob had
actually saved the
government five billion dollars with his deals.
One of the
first reporters to be duped by Scientology with the Fashanu Report,
George Noah, later discovered the truth and wrote a lengthy article about Scientology's
under-handed dealings.
Professor
Aluko of the Nigerian Democratic Movement invited Fashanu and Bob
Minton to debate at Washington D.C.'s George Washington
University. Bob immediately accepted.
Fashanu
also quickly agreed to show up with his "investigator" but
when it was discovered that his investigator's true identity was
known, Fashanu later backed out.
Bob
attended the debate as promised and spent four hours
discussing the work he did for the Nigerian government,
providing documentation to all who asked.
View
the Fashanu "Debate" |
Professor
Aluko and Bob |
When
Bob returned to Clearwater, he found that the rank and file members of
Scientology had been briefed on the Fashanu Report. They used it
and other material during a picket in which the Scientologists had
clearly been ordered to provoke Bob into another incident.
Scientologist
Mary DeMoss |
For
this picket, Scientology went all out and filled the sidewalk in
front of the Fort Harrison Hotel with dozens of cult members
chanting insulting slogans.
View
the July 26 picket |
Many
of the Scientologists attacking Bob in this picket may some day
realize that they have been lied to by Scientology and come to the LMT
for help. That was just the case with Tory Bezazian, a thirty-year veteran of Scientology who last year fought against the critics
and this year became one.
Tory
Bezazian was one of the most respected members of Scientology in L.A.
and we can see why. She has quickly become a beloved figure
around the Trust.
Tory
uses the nickname Magoo on the internet (as a tribute to her dad
who was also known as Magoo). When Tory joined Bob and
Stacy for a picket up in Boston she surprised even herself by
joining in.
View
"Magoo's First Picket" |
Tory
Bezazian |
In
November, Mike Krotz and Mr. Scary Productions held a benefit concert
for the LMT. The host of the event was Jamie Kennedy, a
slam-poet from the San Francisco area who happens to be the
great-grandson of Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
Benefit
Concert |
We
all enjoyed meeting Jamie Kennedy, who did a great job as master
of ceremonies. Toward the end of the all-day event, Jamie invited
Bob, Stacy and Jesse up onto the stage.
View
Highlights of the Concert |
Scientology
tried everything they could to stop the concert but it was a great
success.
Try
as they might, Scientology has been unable to derail the LMT which
continues to expose the abusive and deceptive practices of Scientology
even while fending off lawsuit after lawsuit from the cult.
Bob
on the Witness Stand |
In
February, 13 people faced trial in Clearwater over alleged
violations of an injunction placed into effect before the
December, 2000 Lisa McPherson Memorial Picket.
View
Portions of the Trial |
Scientology
continues to try to silence the LMT and those who come here for aid
but we will continue to speak out till the reforms of Scientology are
implemented.
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