Sunday saw anti-Scientology protests in at least three Texas cities.

The Daily Texan (UT-Austin) reports that protesters demonstrated outside the Church of Scientology in Austin on Sunday:

The picketers said they were members of Anonymous, an online group that declared a global campaign against Scientology in a YouTube video and claimed responsibility for temporarily blocking access to the church's Web site. The group claims the church violated Internet free speech by requesting the removal of an interview with actor Tom Cruise posted on YouTube. The church said the video was copyrighted.

Anonymous organized similar demonstrations at Scientology churches in Australia and other U.S. cities last weekend.

Many other members of Anonymous protested in other cities, such as Los Angeles and Boston. An official statement from the Church of Scientology characterized members of Anonymous as "cyberterrorists who hide their identities behind masks and computer anonymity" who target the church "for no reason other than religious bigotry."

Sunday marked the birthday of Lisa McPherson, a Dallas native who died in the care of Scientologist church staffers in 1995. In Dallas, members of Anonymous protested McPherson's death:

"Today is Lisa McPherson's birthday," said one masked protester who wish not to be identified. "Today she would be 40. Lisa McPherson died in Clearwater, Florida."

McPherson, a Dallas native, died in the care of Scientologist church staffers in 1995. The Church of Scientology in Clearwater was charged with criminal neglect and practicing medicine without a license.

"Just go to 'whyaretheydead.net' and that will help you learn about a lot of the people and the causes of their death and their suspicions around it," said the masked protestor. 

Members of Anonymous staged a protest in Houston as well:

“We could be harmed for our actions here. As such, we are wearing masks to prevent ourselves from being identified. They have a history of stalking and harming those who oppose them,” one protester said.

These might be the first protests organized essentially in the spirit of crypto-anarchism.

Comments

Add New Search

Write comment
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Website:
Title:
UBBCode:	-color-aquablackbluefuchsiagraygreenlimemaroonnavyolivepurpleredsilvertealwhiteyellow -size-tinysmallmediumlargehuge
Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.12

Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.