EXCLUSIVE: Scientology tells A&E it has ‘blood on its hands’ for murder in Australia

The Underground Bunker has obtained a copy of a letter that was sent by Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw to A&E network president Paul Buccieri, blaming the network for inciting the January 3 murder of Aaron Yeh, a 24-year-old worker at Scientology’s “Advanced Org” in a Sydney, Australia suburb.

Pouw angrily blamed the network for inciting the murder, which she says the church warned would happen because it was airing Leah Remini’s series, Scientology and the Aftermath.

“For years, A&E executives ignored our warnings that the series was inspiring bigotry and violence. You knew what you were doing. Your intent was to stir up hate and turn it into cash. Now somebody has been murdered. Your indifference and obsession with stirring hate underwrote his murder,” Pouw writes in the letter, and calls on the network to cancel the show.

Yeh, a Taiwanese national who had joined Scientology’s “Sea Org” with its billion-year contract, was escorting a 16-year-old boy from the Advanced Org campus when the boy pulled out a 10-inch kitchen knife and slashed Yeh’s throat, killing him. He also wounded another Sea Org guard, Shannon Vaughn, before he was subdued and later arrested.

The boy was reportedly upset because the day before he had fought with his mother at home over her involvement in Scientology’s “Purification Rundown,” which she was going through at the base. He then showed up at the base but was not allowed to see his mother while she was undergoing the procedure, which is standard policy. When the boy became agitated, he was asked to leave and then attacked Yeh.

A Sydney church member, who asked not to be named, tells us that the mother had been brought to Australia from Taiwan to join the Sea Org, and was doing the Purif as an initial step. But it’s not clear if her son objected to her making the Sea Org commitment (which would mean she would have little time for family) or he objected simply to the Purif, or both.

But Pouw, in her letter, says that the boy argued with his mother at home and then came to the base with a knife because he had read about Scientology on the Internet, and was inspired by Leah Remini’s criticisms of her former church.

“The assailant had stated his intent to burn down the Church,” Pouw claims. “The attacker was inspired by an anti-Scientology website that featured your people and included a link to Remini’s show.”

Pouw also takes the opportunity to repeat some of the church’s standard complaints about the show, claiming that guests are “coached” to “incite hatred” of Scientology and that they are compensated “under the table.” (Full disclosure: We’ve appeared on the show twice, with the production company paying our expenses to fly out from New York, but otherwise we weren’t paid a dime. We weren’t coached what to say in either instance. Other participants assure us they experienced the same.)

The letter concludes with a flourish: “We urged you to stop the hate and repeatedly told you the harm it was causing, which was escalating with each paid-for, hate-filled episode. Now, somebody is dead. You paid for the hate that caused his murder. And you profit. Stop your program.”

It’s signed by Pouw, who never appears on television for interviews. We’ve long suspected that her name is put on letters actually written by Scientology leader David Miscavige.

“What is amazing about this letter is that they couldn’t even get [Scientology attorney] Gary Soter to send it, let alone a reputable attorney because it is such BS and is going to turn out to be complete manufactured conjecture. Ultimately the records of what this guy said are going to become available,” Leah Remini’s co-star Mike Rinder tells us. “And it is so clearly written by Miscavige. The end of the letter is classic Miscavige ‘tough guy’ style. Karin Pouw couldn’t write this if you gave her OT 8 and a million dollars.”

In Australia, the 16-year-old assailant is being held without bail and faces murder charges. When we recently asked therapist Rachel Bernstein about the incident, she had a lot of interesting questions about the state of the boy’s mind. “I find it meaningful that he attacked a guard as opposed to someone just in there taking courses or doing the Purif,” she told us. “The guard was the symbolic barrier between him and his mother and by attacking the guard with a knife I believe he was showing how angry he was and how powerless he felt to be able to either access his mother or protect his mother from all of this…Whether or not he had an emotional disturbance, he just may have been terrified being in a new country and then feeling like his mother was being kidnapped away from him and there was nothing he could do about it.”

Those are the kinds of questions — about the stresses this family was put under as they were moved to a new country to be part of the Scientology experience, that police should be asking to understand the situation, and that Scientology should be answering.

Take a look at the letter and let us know how you think A&E or Leah Remini should respond.

Here’s the text of the letter…

January 11, 2019

Paul Buccieri
President, A+E Networks Group

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235 East 45th Street
New York, NY 10017

Re: Blood on your hands

Mr. Buccieri:

A young Scientologist in Australia has been murdered. Prior to committing this heinous act, the murderer spouted vicious religious hatred and propaganda, incited by A&E and the Leah Remini/Mike Rinder series.

On January 3, 2019, a man fatally stabbed a member of our Australasian headquarters in Sydney. Previously the assailant had stated his intent to burn down the Church. The attacker was inspired by an anti-Scientology website that featured your people and included a link to Remini’s show.

Week after week, month after month, and now year after year, this series has poisoned the airwaves in an avowed effort to create hatred against the Scientology religion and Scientologists. Hatred and propaganda always find their mark, especially among those weak and vulnerable to their appeals. And now it has born strange and bitter fruit.

For years, A&E executives ignored our warnings that the series was inspiring bigotry and violence. You knew what you were doing. Your intent was to stir up hate and turn it into cash. Now somebody has been murdered. Your indifference and obsession with stirring hate underwrote this murder.

You are well aware that whistleblowers have described how Leah Remini coaches people on the show to incite hatred against Scientology. We have repeatedly told you that all evidence points to the fact that every person on that program has been compensated, often “under the table” to try to hide it. You could care less what that scandalous bigotry — lie after lie after lie — can cause.

We warned you. Six hundred threats of violence, caused by your programming, meant nothing to you. Assassination threats against the leader of our religion meant nothing to you. You put a convicted felon on your show to praise him for vandalizing our Church and threatening to kill the leader of our religion. It didn’t matter to you, because it was what you were trying to do. For ratings, for sales, for money.

So consider your answer to this letter. Do not give us some lawyered-up response. We urged you to stop the hate and repeatedly told you the harm it was causing, which was escalating with each paid-for hate-filled episode. Now, somebody is dead. You paid for the hate that caused his murder. And you profit.

Stop your program.

Karin Pouw

 
And here’s the letter itself:

Karin Pouw to A&E: &#39… by on Scribd

 
UPDATE: And here’s Pouw’s response to Bryan Seymour, who also covered this story. It’s pretty precious…

Scientology to Bryan Seymour by on Scribd

 
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Start making your plans!

 
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We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.

Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 14, 2019 at 07:00

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