The Church of Scientology have issued protestors a “final warning” in a desperate attempt to shut down a demonstration planned to coincide with their annual UK gathering.
This weekend Scientology’s membership body, the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) will be celebrating their anniversary at a star-studded gathering, hosted by reclusive leader David Miscavige at their UK headquarters near East Grinstead, Sussex. The event kicks off on Friday, with thousands of parishioners traveling to the quiet countryside town from across Europe in order to hear Miscavige speak. On Saturday, the Church will be hosting a ‘Global Salvage Seminar’ and black-tie ‘Patrons Ball’, at which Scientology’s biggest donors will receive awards for their financial contributions over the year and the event will close with a charity concert where the controversial group give £50,000 cheques to local organisations such as Age UK East Grinstead.
Despite Scientology’s best efforts, this year’s protest has been given the green light by Sussex Police and the local authorities after a failed bid for the implementation of a Public Spaces Protection Order earlier this year resulted in Mid-Sussex District Council deciding the demonstrations have been “peaceful and well organised.”
Now, in a last-ditch attempt to bully protestors into backing down, a Scientology representative has given a “final warning” after issuing a cease and desist letter earlier this week.
The protest group largely consists of local residents concerned about the growing influence the controversial Church has over the town, and former members who aim to raise awareness of the abuse that is prevalent throughout the organisation. Placards and signs on display at the protests in 2023 and 2024 carried messages such as “When was the last time you saw your family? They love you and so do we” and “It’s not out-ethics to put your mental health first.”
In a letter sent earlier this week to the protest organiser, Scientology Business Editor Alexander Barnes-Ross, a church representative accused the demonstrations from engaging in anti-social behaviour and demanded they “refrain from congregating outside the church property” during the event.
Responding to the allegations yesterday, Barnes-Ross told the Church “I will not be deterred by [your] threats, which I have been advised are groundless. Rather I will continue providing a voice and a platform for those who have been harmed by your organisation.”
“I therefore respectfully suggest that should you wish to prevent protests from occurring outside your property, you stop engaging in harassment, cease your organisation’s well- documented criminal activities, start paying your staff the minimum wage and cease attacking those you deem to be enemies but are in fact merely your critics exercising their Article 10 right to free expression and to protest peacefully.”
Late last night, the church hit back with another threatening email, telling protestors “this will serve as your final warning.”
Here’s the chain of events. First, Scientology’s cease and desist letter, sent on Monday 27th October:
The following day, Barnes-Ross responded:
Thank you for your email and letter on behalf of the Church of Scientology Religious Education College, Inc (COSRECI) dated 27th October 2025 on which I have take legal advice.
As I have made explicitly clear throughout my journey as an activist, I have nothing against those who choose to be Scientologists and my protests are never directed against them. It is as matter of law impossible to harass an organisation.
Rather, I am protesting the abusive and criminal practices that are prevalent throughout your organisation, and have been so since its inception; a fact of which there is overwhelming and irrefutable international evidence. Here are just some examples:
- In 1979 Scientology members were convicted for their involvement in the organization’s Operation Snow White, the largest theft of government documents in U.S. history.
- In the same year several executives of the organization were convicted and imprisoned for multiple offenses by a U.S. Federal Court.
- Scientologists were also convicted of fraud, manslaughter and tampering with witnesses in French cases, malicious libel against lawyer Casey Hill and espionage in Canada.
- The Church of Scientology itself was convicted of fraud by a French court in 2009, a decision upheld by the supreme Court of Cassation in 2013.
- In France it has been classified as a dangerous cult.
The cruel and criminal practices which are rife in your organisation include forced abortions, familial disconnection, hard manual labour, punishments, human trafficking and harassment. It is these activities that I and others like me vehemently oppose and which continue to be practiced by your organisation in every city in which you operate.
As you will be aware when last year your organisation applied for a Public Spaces Protection Order the outcome was that Mid-Sussex District Council reviewed our protesting activities outside the International Association of Scientologists event at Saint Hill. The Council concluded that our demonstrations did not amount to harassment or hate speech, and there was no evidence of any anti-social behaviour taking place. This has been corroborated by multiple witness statements, including testimony provided by Sussex Police.
We continue to protest with empathy and compassion at the forefront of our activities, and we work closely with the local authority, law enforcement and Highways in order to minimise any potential disruption caused by our protest.
Our message is simple: the serial and international abuse of which the Church is proven to be guilty must stop.
Over the last year your organisation has engaged in a prolific and persistent campaign of harassment, targeting me and other protestors which has amounted to in excess of 10,000 social media attack posts, articles on STAND League and the creation of a hate website at the domain name whoisalexbarnesross.org. By contrast this does constitute as a matter of law an offence under Section 1 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
By contrast your characterisation of my efforts to hold your organisation accountable for these tactics as “harassment’ is both absurd and nothing short of hypocritical. Your attempt to threaten me with a cease and desist letter is a further example of your well-documented pattern of using intimidation tactics and legal threats in order to silence critics and former members.
I will not be deterred by such threats, which I have been advised are groundless. Rather I will continue providing a voice and a platform for those who have been harmed by your organisation.
I therefore respectfully suggest that should you wish to prevent protests from occurring outside your property, you stop engaging in harassment, cease your organisation’s well-documented criminal activities, start paying your staff the minimum wage and cease attacking those you deem to be enemies but are in fact merely your critics exercising their Article 10 right to free expression and to protest peacefully.
We remain open to working with the authorities in a co-operative and collaborative manner in order to ensure our protest causes minimal disruption to your event and local area, and would be more than willing to meet with you to discuss your plans for the weekend in order to reach an agreement that would be satisfactory to both parties.
Your sincerely,
Alexander Barnes-Ross
Email sent to the Church of Scientology, Tuesday 28th October 2025
Later that evening, the church representative responded with a “final warning” sent at 21.37 UK time:
Dear Mr Barnes-Ross,
As stated in my original letter, you are placed on formal notice to desist from any and all actions—by you personally or by any associated individuals who come to or near the entry of our Church—that harass our members and community. This includes the women, children, and families who attend our Church and the activities taking place this weekend.
Contrary to your assertion, our organisation could bring proceedings under the Protection from Harassment Act to protect our members from harassment — and indeed we have done so successfully in the past. Moreover, the individuals who have complained to us about your harassment over the past two years could equally bring such an action themselves, and I am putting you on notice on behalf of them all.
To reiterate, the specific ways in which you have harassed these Scientologists and visitors in the past include:
Blocking or impeding their access to their Church; Causing alarm, distress, and discomfort — in particular by filming them and doxxing them on the internet;
Verbal harassment and shouting.You are already on record for having harassed and violated the privacy of numerous members, several of whom have filed complaints resulting in the removal of your unauthorized videos from social media platforms. You are also on record for a repeated history of filming, and for causing others to film, women, children, and families attending our events. Our parishioners and guests have filed numerous reports against you, confirming an on-going pattern of harassment and intrusion. These documented actions confirm your continued misconduct and expose the falsehoods in your recent letter to me.
Further, you have been reported to the Police for the harassment of a mother and her child, underscoring the seriousness of your behaviour and its impact on our community.
You are the organizer and instigator of these actions directed against our Church and will therefore be held accountable for the conduct of any person you bring, direct to our premises, or cause to come to our premises through the promotional actions you are conducting.
This will serve as your final warning.
Sincerely,
[NAME REDACTED]
Email sent by Church of Scientology representative, 28th October 2025
Meanwhile, discussions are ongoing regarding Scientology’s lack of planning permission for a mammoth 45,000 square foot marquee erected on their property in order to host the event. West Sussex Highways have also granted the church licences to install hoarding and plant a hedge on public land outside their entrance in order to obstruct protestors, minimising the space available for them to congregate.
Protest information can be found at their website, which details plans for this year’s march through East Grinstead Town centre.
