Protestors who had gathered outside the latest Tom Cruise: Mission Impossible premiere in London were detained and handcuffed by Police on Thursday after a suspected Scientology agent made a false call alleging he’d over heard them discuss plans to throw oil over celebrities.
On arrival, Police detained two protestors including Scientology Business Editor Alex Barnes-Ross, immediately placing them in handcuffs before questioning their motives and intentions. Officers in attendance quoted Section 1 of PACE (Police And Criminal Evidence Act 1984) which gives Police powers to stop and search an individual or vehicle if there is a reasonable suspicion a crime has been, or is about to be committed.
Barnes-Ross was live streaming at the time, with the whole incident unfolding in front of hundreds watching the protest online.
According to an officer on the scene, a member of the public made a call to the Police stating he had overheard the protestors discussing plans to throw oil over Tom Cruise, and the reason for the stop and search was to find any suspected evidence which might support the claim. However, Tom Cruise had already been at the premiere inside the security perimeter for half an hour and later analysis of footage captured at the event shows several Scientology agents filming the incident, making it highly likely the call was made by the Church’s ‘Office of Special Affairs’ as an attempt to disrupt the protest and snap photos of the protestors being put in cuffs.
Liam Lahart, for example, a staffer at the Church of Scientology London, was seen recording the moment Barnes-Ross was detained and searched by Police (left). On the right, Lahart can be seen at an event in London last year wearing a Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) t-shirt – one of Scientology’s front groups – and accompanied by Stefania Cisco, Scientology London’s Director of Special Affairs.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Barnes-Ross said “This was a completely unnecessary and excessive use of police force which temporarily restricted our rights to peaceful protest. I was not approached or asked why we were there or what our plans were – I was immediately put in cuffs, which has left marks on my wrist.”
He continued, “I told the officer that this is exactly the sort of thing Scientology do in order to shut down critics, stifle free speech and intimidate anybody who speaks out. It was an excessive use of police force, totally unnecessary, and just goes to show why it’s important to exercise our rights to free speech.”
“This sort of incident is the precise reason why so many survivors of abuse in Scientology are afraid to speak out – because if they do, they are painted as criminals by the so-called Church and treated harshly and unfairly by the police.”
Policy written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard describes how to weaponise the judicial system against critics in order to silence them. In OSA Network Order No. 46, ‘Rundown on Intelligence’, Scientologists are ordered to carry out “investigations” on those it considers enemies “to get the SP put in a government accommodation”. An SP in Scientology-speak is Suppressive Person, or enemy.
In Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter (HCO PL) 16th February 1969, ‘Battle Tactics, Legal Strategy’, he sets forth a tactic called “punitive defence”, explaining “The best defense is a new method of attack; all legal. There is a strategy in war which can apply to Legal. It is a very clever strategy and time tested, but never picked up and used generally. It consists of exhausting the resources of the enemy or potential enemy without even engaging in a direct confrontation. The end product is that he goes into despair and succumbs.” The policy letter concludes, “Attackers of Scientology are basically cowards and they are basically liars. The first factor is handled by a good legal attack on them personally and individually”
There are dozens of other policy letters and network orders that document Scientology’s intent to ostracise those it perceives as enemies and paint them as criminals irrespective of whether they have committed any crimes.
At Thursday’s premiere, we counted no less than five Scientology agents hovering for some time before and after the protestors were detained, all of whom swarmed Barnes-Ross and took out their cameras to record the moment he was put in cuffs.
After explaining their intention was to peacefully protest the abuse that goes on within Scientology, the controversial organisation whose leader was Tom Cruise’s best man at his wedding to Katie Holmes, the protestors were set free and continued on with their demonstration. However, Barnes-Ross explains, “this is the same organisation that once mailed fake bomb threats to itself in an effort to frame journalist Paulette Cooper, who had been reporting on Scientology at the time. When called to an incident involving Scientology protestors, the Met Police should be aware that it is highly likely the call was made under false pretences by Scientology themselves in an attempt to get the protest shut down.”
He continues, “By putting us in handcuffs the moment they arrived on scene, the Police played directly into Scientology’s hand, giving them the content they were so desperately after for their campaign of hate. This is a disgusting example of a so-called Church using Police resources to commit further offences under the banner of ‘Fair Game’.”
Meanwhile, Scientology continue to campaign for a ban on protesting outside their UK headquarters at Saint Hill near East Grinstead. A Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) is currently being reviewed by Mid-Sussex District Council, which could potentially restrict the rights of protestors near Scientology’s property. A decision is expected later this Summer.
You can watch the incident as it unfolded on Youtube below:
