You may have noticed this photo pop up a few days ago. It depicts the Rev. Alfreddie Johnson, Jr., late of Compton, California, on a visit to the London Scientology Ideal Org, flanked by that facility’s “it” duo, Charlie Wakley and Sandrine Mootoo.

We couldn’t think of a more appropriate image to capture the [...]]]>

You may have noticed this photo pop up a few days ago. It depicts the Rev. Alfreddie Johnson, Jr., late of Compton, California, on a visit to the London Scientology Ideal Org, flanked by that facility’s “it” duo, Charlie Wakley and Sandrine Mootoo.

We couldn’t think of a more appropriate image to capture the state of Scientology in 2019.

Wakley and Mootoo remind us that young people still fall under founder L. Ron Hubbard’s sway, whether they grow up in the organization or not, and bring to it a naive enthusiasm that at one time was one of Scientology’s best recruiting tools. Burning with energy, Wakley and Mootoo have tried to promote Scientology in London as a hip, exciting thing, and they search for unique ways to convince others that it’s “the world’s coolest religion.” (Which is actually, believe it or not, a slogan Scientology leader David Miscavige trotted out briefly.)

Wakley and Mootoo, staffers at the London org, are so sure the world needs to hear their happy news about Scientology, they briefly experimented with taking questions through YouTube, but their “Ask me anything” videos predictably backfired, and were soon taken down.

It was Charlie’s wife and fellow London staffer Kate Wakley who recently sent out an email to other Scientologists with a stunning success story written by Isabella Cruise, Tom Cruise’s 26-year-old daughter. A copy made its way to us, and after we posted it, major media around the world picked it up. Was Isabella ready to become a public promoter of Scientology? Perhaps she was. Or perhaps the Wakleys are simply a little too enthusiastic for their own good.

If Wakley and Mootoo represent Scientology’s bumbling, half-witted future, it’s fitting that they seem to be so honored to greet Scientology’s past, very aptly embodied by a huckster like Alfreddie Johnson.

“This guy has literally helped tens of thousands of people around the world and is a massive inspiration to me so I just wanna say a massive THANK YOU!” Wakley wrote on his Facebook post of the photo.

Like any slick Scientology promotion, however, if you care to dig a little deeper, you’re likely to find a very disturbing reality permeating this declining organization.

Johnson has written that he came to Scientology as a result of the 1992 riots in Los Angeles. He soon became one of its most recognizable African-American figures, and claimed that he was responsible for bringing in other famous black figures to Scientology, including musician Isaac Hayes and Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan (we’ve heard alternate versions challenging his claim, however).

In Compton, a working-class suburb of Los Angeles, Johnson operated a Scientology front he called the World Literacy Crusade with a woman named Hanan Islam. She was its executive director, and together they founded “American Health and Education Clinics” at the same site.

Johnson, Islam, and the World Literacy Crusade had a colorful history, as we’ve detailed before:

— In 2005, Los Angeles County, which had been sending children from a group home to the “Clinic,” realized that the children were getting treatments that were totally inappropriate and seemed to be filled with Scientology. They ordered the group home to stop sending the kids.

— In 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that the World Literacy Crusade office in Compton was the scene of a near riot as it turned out that the $1,500 vouchers it was selling for Section 8 housing turned out to be fakes.

— In 2012, Hanan Islam and Alfreddie Johnson were featured in a series of stories in the Tampa Bay Times which described how they flew to Florida and took over a struggling charter school, imposed Scientology teaching methods over the objections of parents and some teachers (who were fired), diverted large amounts of the school’s state money to the World Literacy Crusade, and left town after riding the charter school into the ground: “Calling herself ‘Dr. Hanan,’ Islam…said she was a naturopathic physician with two doctorates and a master’s degree from Rochville University and the Eden Institute. Rochville is an online school the Washington Post called ‘a diploma mill.’ No university named ‘Eden Institute’ could be found by the Times.”

— In 2013, after a Center for Investigative Reporting/CNN series exposed corruption in California’s Medi-Cal insurance program, American Health and Education Clinics was one of many that stopped receiving state funds and also found itself being looked at more closely, including Hanan Islam’s background: “Throughout her decadelong tenure at American Health and Education Clinics, authorities seemed to take no note of her criminal history. In the mid-’90s, she had pleaded guilty to a federal charge of providing a fake name on a passport application. She also had been convicted of grand theft for forging a $29,000 check,” CIR reported.

Then, the shit really hit the fan, although nearly four years later it has still only been reported here at the Underground Bunker: Islam and three of her children were arrested and charged with felonies as the alleged scam they were running at the World Literacy Crusade facility was exposed by state investigators.

Operating as a Scientology “Narconon” drug rehab clinic, American Health and Education Clinics was ripping off state insurance money by pretending to put patients through drug rehab counseling. Those patients were actually unwitting local high school students, supplied by two principals and a football coach, all of three of whom lost their jobs when the scam was exposed.

Alfreddie Johnson himself was not arrested or charged, but his World Literacy Crusade shuttered, and he got far away as quickly as he could — one of his newer schemes was based in Dubai, for example — while his former partner, Islam, faced the music back in Los Angeles Superior Court (while actually living in Las Vegas).

 
We are still stunned that this story has not appeared at all in local Los Angeles media. Three prominent Los Angeles African-American educators were disgraced after supplying unwitting high schoolers to a Scientology clinic that pretended to treat them for drug problems in order to steal about $3 million from the state. Six people were arrested on multiple felony charges, and the case has dragged on glacially in the courts for four years without even a preliminary hearing happening yet. (We doubt that would be the case if the Los Angeles Times had bothered to write even a single story about it.)

One of the clinic employees charged has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and has been dropped from the case. But Hanan Islam, 59, and three of her ten children, Zakiyyah Islam, 36, Nimat Islam, 42, and Ronnie Islam, 29, are still facing felony charges.

Ronnie is better known as “Rizza Islam,” a Nation of Islam and Scientology figure who spends a lot of time advocating against vaccinations, which he claims are a plot to destroy black children. (Although Rizza has referred to Alfreddie Johnson as his father, he has also posted on social media about another man being his biological father.)

We’ve relied on a correspondent who attends court hearings in the case to keep up on what’s happening, and right now it’s at a bizarre juncture. While Alfreddie Johnson is being feted in London, back in Los Angeles, the court is waiting for his former partner Hanan Islam to die.

Here’s what our court observer said when we asked them to summarize what’s been happening in the case over the last several months.

None of the defendants have appeared at the last five court sessions on the matter. Only their attorneys have appeared. The first delay occurred when Rizza Islam’s pro bono attorney Gary S. Brown suddenly died of a heart attack two days before the preliminary hearing was set to begin. Brown was a decades-long member of the Church of Scientology. A delay was needed to find Rizza Islam a new attorney.

The preliminary hearing was then slated to begin when Hanan Islam’s attorney waived her HIPAA rights to inform the court that she has colon cancer. The judge asked the prosecution if it wanted to sever Hanan from the case and the prosecution said no.

Hanan’s lawyer said she was too ill to travel or to appear in court. He said she was trying an alternative treatment and if that didn’t work then she would have to look at conventional medical treatment.

If Hanan Islam dies the complexion of the case changes. The judge is taking a wait and see approach. The defense lawyers seem to think that if Hanan dies then the case falls apart.

One of the defense lawyers claimed that the other defendants did not get any money from the scheme and only Hanan did. Therefore, charges should be reduced to misdemeanors or dropped.

Although Hanan’s latest online activity has been peddling cancer cures in Colombia, the court believes her death is so imminent it was waiting just two weeks before another status hearing to decide what to do, our correspondent tells us.

We’ll let you know what we hear.

 
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HowdyCon 2019 in Los Angeles

THURSDAY NIGHT OPPORTUNITY: This year’s HowdyCon is in Los Angeles. People tend to come in starting on Thursday, and that evening we will have a casual get-together at a watering hole. But we also want to point out that Cathy Schenkelberg’s “Squeeze My Cans” will be running at the Hollywood Fringe, and we encourage HowdyCon attendees to see her show on Thursday night, June 20. Tickets and more dates available here.

Friday night June 21 we will be having an event in a theater (like we did on Saturday night last year in Chicago). There will not be a charge to attend this event, but if you want to attend, you need to RSVP with your proprietor at tonyo94 AT gmail.

On Saturday, we are joining forces with Janis Gillham Grady, who is having a reunion in honor of the late Bill Franks. Originally, we thought this event might take place in Riverside, but instead it’s in the Los Angeles area. If you wish to attend the reunion, you will need to RSVP with Janis (janisgrady AT gmail), and there will be a small contribution she’s asking for in order to help cover her costs.

HOTEL: Janis tells us she’s worked out a deal with Hampton Inn and Suites, at 7501 North Glenoaks Blvd, Burbank, (818) 768-1106. We have a $159 nightly rate for June 19 to 22. Note: You need to ask for the “family reunion” special rate.

 
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!

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!

Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!

Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society!

Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in our weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Joy Villa makes it back to the White House, but on a sour note
[TWO years ago] Child deaths at a pop concert turn into the latest chance for Scientology to spread its propaganda
[THREE years ago] Will Scientology’s celebrities heed the call and show up for today’s big media center opening?
[FOUR years ago] Former Scientologist found guilty of defrauding other exes — ALSO: 1998 film re-release
[FIVE years ago] Scientology’s drug rehab system hit with tenth federal fraud lawsuit by Las Vegas attorney
[SIX years ago] Scientology Gets Emotional: Claire Headley on the Tone Scale

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 28, 2019 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2018 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2018), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 We could not have broken the big story of felony charges against Scientologists operating a Scientology drug rehab clinic in Compton without the help of our sources. We’ve had invaluable help here in New York with the Underground Bunker’s man [...]]]>

 
We could not have broken the big story of felony charges against Scientologists operating a Scientology drug rehab clinic in Compton without the help of our sources. We’ve had invaluable help here in New York with the Underground Bunker’s man on the scene, Jeffrey Augustine, who lives in Los Angeles.

This week, he volunteered to get some looks at the venues we’ve been talking about. The story we revealed on Thursday was that several Scientologists are accused of running a Narconon clinic out of the World Literacy Crusade, a longtime Scientology front in Compton. Arrangements were made with three prominent local educators (since fired) to provide high school kids to the “clinic,” where they were put through Scientology exercises, and the clinic then billed Medi-Cal as if the students had been treated for drug addictions. According to court documents, this scam was running at least from 2010 to 2013 (but we found evidence that it had been using foster children as early as 2005). The clinic was raided by a state law enforcement agency in March 2014. But what’s happened to the clinic, and the World Literacy Crusade, since then? Jeffrey Augustine is our man on the scene.

 
With the news of Dr. Hanan Islam being criminally charged for Medi-Cal fraud, I decided to drive over to Compton to visit the two Scientology-related entities where she worked, with Rev. Alfreddie Johnson Jr. (who has not been arrested or charged with a crime): World Literacy Crusade (3209 N. Alameda St, Suite B) and American Health and Education Clinics (3209 N. Alameda St, Suite B, sometimes listed as Suite C).

3209 N. Alameda Street is located in a well-maintained, single-story industrial park. Designed for light manufacturing, industrial distribution, or service and repair companies, this is not a location one would associate with a rehab clinic, church, or literacy crusade. I mention this point because, as a sales engineer, I called on manufactures and distributors for 30 years and had many small clients in these sorts of industrial parks in Los Angeles. The choice of location seemed odd to me. It is what Scientologists would call an “out point.” Adding to this out point is the fact that Rev. Johnson’s “True Faith Christian Center” is also, according to online records, located in Suite B. However, in 2013 the Reverend Johnson announced on Facebook that he had moved his church to the Hubbard Dianetics Community Center attached to the new Scientology “Ideal Org” in Inglewood:

 
Despite being listed at the N. Alameda address in Internet searches, Rev. Johnson’s World Literacy Crusade is also no longer located at the Compton address. The California Secretary of State website shows World Literacy Crusade to be a suspended entity:

A search of IRS 990 forms shows that the World Literacy Crusade today is a “doing business as” (dba) of Scientologist Holly Haggerty’s nonprofit Community Learning Center Inc. located in Clearwater, Florida (EIN 59-3521809).

At some point, Rev. Johnson’s World Literacy Crusade was subsumed into the Community Learning Center Inc. But in that organization’s latest tax return, for 2014, there is no mention of Rev. Johnson or the Crusade.

World Literacy Crusade has essentially vanished legally. Despite this, the official Church of Scientology website makes this claim for Johnson’s group:

Today, World Literacy Crusade operates programs in schools, community tutoring centers and juvenile detention facilities. It has grown into an international movement, with volunteers from lands as far-flung as Australia, Greece and Africa providing individuals with the basic tools to become literate, responsible, self-sufficient and employable. After completing the literacy program, 87 percent of teens involved in gangs and drug use made the decision to relinquish their former lifestyle and embark on a productive and ethical path.

While Scientology makes that confident claim about Rev. Johnson’s Crusade, the reverend himself has apparently moved on to a new enterprise — doing business in the United Arab Emirates:

 
While World Literacy Crusade has vanished from Compton, I also found, on my visit, that Hanan Islam’s American Health and Education Clinics is no longer located at the N. Alameda facility. I spoke to the gentleman who today rents Suite B. He is an industrial distributor who moved in about six months ago and told me Suite B was unoccupied when he moved in. I have blurred the name of his company in this photo of Suite B:

 
Suite C, which also was listed as an address for American Health and Education Clinics, is empty and the signage has been removed.

 
A peek inside the window at the former location of American Health and Education Clinics reveals nothing more than a lonely wall socket:

 
As with most things Scientology, the seedy reality belies the PR: Behold the former global headquarters of the World Literacy Crusade and American Health and Education Clinics:

 
And here’s what it looked like in better times, from a WLC video…

 
American Health and Education Clinics’ website has also been taken down, and the California Secretary of State website shows American Health and Education Clinics LLC to be a Delaware corporation whose California status is, apparently, forfeited:

The California data reveals American Health and Education Clinics LLC to be a Delaware corporation with a very impressive address in prestigious Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. This Chadds Ford address is also that of The Brandywine Companies, a real estate brokerage and financial services company. Brandywine’s “People” webpage shows the founder, chairman, and the CEO of Brandywine to be Scientologist Bruce E. Moore; Moore’s Scientology service completions are extensive. Moore and his Brandywine Company are listed as members of Scientology’s business front, WISE, in 2001 and 2004.

 
What is Bruce Moore’s tie to Hanan Islam? It’s not clear. One thing is certain when dealing with the Church of Scientology: Things are never as they seem.

— Jeffrey Augustine.

 
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Bonus photos from our tipsters

Oh joy! A new Ideal Narconon drug rehab in Eslov, Sweden opened last week…

 
Handing out Youth for Human Rights pamphlets in Clearwater. Thanks, Legoland.

 
Celebrity clams Denice Duff, Nancy Cartwright, and Jim Meskimen do the selfie thing.

 
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BOOK NOTES

We didn’t get a chance to include photos in our book, so we’ve posted them at a dedicated page. Reader Sookie put together a complete index and we’re hosting it here on the website. Copies of the paperback version of ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ are on sale at Amazon. The Kindle edition is also available, and shipping instantly.

Our book tour is concluded for now. (But you can re-experience it through this nifty interactive map!) We’ll let you know about future appearances. Previous events: Santa Barbara (5/16), Hollywood (5/17), Orange County (5/17), San Diego (5/20), San Francisco (5/22), New York (6/11), Chicago (6/20), Toronto (6/22), Clearwater (6/28), Washington DC (7/12), Hartford (7/14), Denver (7/17), Dallas (7/20), Houston (7/22), San Antonio (7/24), Austin (7/25), Paris (7/29), London (8/4), Boston (8/24), Phoenix (9/15), Cleveland (9/23), Minneapolis (9/24), Portland (9/27), Seattle (9/28), Vancouver BC (9/29), Sydney (10/23), Melbourne (10/25), Adelaide (10/28), Perth (10/30)

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 19, 2015 at 07:15

E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of LA attorney and former church member Vance Woodward

UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists

GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice

SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts

PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill
The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

Yesterday, we told you that Eric Tenorio, a former official with Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon, had an eyewitness account that confirmed that the rehab facility being run out [...]]]>

Yesterday, we told you that Eric Tenorio, a former official with Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon, had an eyewitness account that confirmed that the rehab facility being run out of the World Literacy Crusade in Compton, California was an official and licensed enterprise of the Church of Scientology itself.

On Thursday, we revealed that at least six of the counselors at the Compton rehab facility, including its co-founder, Hanan Islam, are facing felony Medi-Cal fraud charges after a yearlong investigation by the state’s Bureau of Medi-Cal and Elder Abuse, an investigation that also ousted three prominent educators in the Compton Unified School District for supplying students to Islam’s clinic as part of the scam.

Since we broke that story, we’ve been talking to sources about the Church of Scientology’s involvement with the rehab facility. We do not know if the state agency is going to investigate or pursue charges against anyone at the church itself. And we want to emphasize that the founder of World Literacy Crusade himself, Rev. Alfreddie Johnson Jr., has not been arrested or charged with a crime.

But Tenorio’s eyewitness testimony — that WLC’s rehab, American Health and Educations Clinics, sent a course supervisor to Scientology’s flagship rehab center, Narconon Arrowhead, where he worked — made him certain that the clinic was licensed by Scientology’s front groups Narconon International or the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE).

Today we have another eyewitness account, from someone who worked at Narconon International. Kathy Nather Thomas was Narconon International’s senior case supervisor, which made her the top technical person for every Narconon center in the world. It was her job to make sure that every facility licensed by Narconon International provided the Narconon program — which was drawn from the Scientology teachings of founder L. Ron Hubbard — with precision and accuracy. Narconon International in turn answered to ABLE, which was staffed only with Sea Org workers, and which oversees all of Scientology’s “social betterment” front groups. Thomas left the Church of Scientology at the end of 2012.

She tells us she remembers that around the year 2009, about five years after Hanan Islam and Alfreddie Johnson founded American Health and Education Clinics at the World Literacy Crusade, a man from ABLE came to see her at Narconon International, bringing with him an African-American man (not Rev. Johnson).

Kathy remembers the man from ABLE — Paul Nolan — was an active fundraiser for Criminon, the ABLE front group that gets Scientology into the country’s prisons.

She says that the duo came to Narconon International asking for guidance about starting up a withdrawal service in the Inglewood area.

“Mr. Nolan showed up with the guy that they wanted us to help. So immediately I knew it was an ABLE thing, because he’s an ABLE guy,” Kathy tells us. “But it wasn’t an ABLE project. He said it was an ‘outside’ thing, an outside project of ABLE. That was OK. But then he said he wanted us to train this guy to do withdrawal.”

Kathy explains why that was a stunning request. Narconon is a non-medication approach to drug addiction. It’s not really set up to handle someone in the throes of heavy drug withdrawal. For years, Narconon centers would send withdrawing addicts to local hospitals to dry out before beginning the program. In more recent years, Narconons have opened their own medical detox units to handle that withdrawal period. But that wasn’t what was being suggested here.

“What are you talking about? I thought. I could just imagine this guy trying to help someone in withdrawal. What if he ODs?” Kathy says.

Kathy tells us this story because she says it points out how Narconon activity in that area of Los Angeles was being done through ABLE and not through her group, Narconon International. She concludes that the clinic at World Literacy Crusade must also have been a special ABLE project, or she would have been involved in monitoring it — and she wasn’t.

Kathy also pointed out something to us after she saw yesterday’s story about Eric Tenorio’s experience with Narconon Arrowhead — that World Literacy Crusade sent a case supervisor for training to Arrowhead, and that Tenorio himself was sent to inspect the facility in Compton. Kathy says that’s very significant, because, she says, Narconon Arrowhead, as the massive flagship facility in the network (at least then, today it’s on fumes), had “special lines” that had nothing to do with Narconon International or ABLE.

“This could have been a Gold project,” she says. “For this heavy of an Arrowhead connection, it could have come directly from Gold. It didn’t necessarily have to go through ABLE.”

By “Gold,” Kathy is referring to the International Base, Scientology’s secretive world management headquarters at a 500-acre compound near Hemet, California. It’s also known as “Gold Base” or “Gold” to Scientologists because it houses the studios for Golden Era Productions, which puts out Scientology’s many audiovisual products. It’s also a place where Scientology leader David Miscavige lives and works.

Former Gold employee Marc Headley was at the base around this time — he didn’t escape until 2005. We asked him if he knew anything about David Miscavige being involved in ordering a drug rehab center being developed for Alfreddie Johnson’s World Literacy Crusade. (Five years earlier, in 1999, Miscavige had given Johnson a “Freedom Medal” for his work at World Literacy Crusade, which at that time was disseminating L. Ron Hubbard’s “study technology” to inner-city youth.)

Headley doesn’t remember hearing about the clinic. (If you were at Gold at the time and did hear about it, we’d like to talk to you.) But he does point out how important Rev. Alfreddie Johnson was to Miscavige.

“We were always filming that guy. And he was at every event at the Celebrity Centre. Alfreddie is David Miscavige’s line to the African-American community,” Headley says.

In the mid-1990s, Johnson had recruited singer Isaac Hayes to Scientology. Jason Beghe, an actor and former Scientologist who was featured in Alex Gibney’s documentary Going Clear, has told us that Hayes pressed Miscavige: Why aren’t there more black people in Scientology? (Beghe said he told Miscavige the same thing.)

“Alfreddie was the guy who was going to bring the African-American community into the church,” Headley says. So he got unusual access to Miscavige, and special treatment.

Can Miscavige be directly tied to Alfreddie Johnson and Hanan Islam founding American Health and Education Clinics? If you have information that would tie them together, we want to hear from you.

 
UPDATE: An earlier version of this story dated the incident Kathy Thomas witnessed too early. In fact, it took place after 2008, and involved a withdrawal service in the Inglewood area. That incident convinces Thomas that the World Literacy Crusade clinic was an ABLE project, not that she was approached by ABLE about the World Literacy Crusade clinic itself — Ed.

 
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Karen de la Carrier on Fair Game

Karen concludes her series on Scientology’s retaliation schemes.

 
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Bonus photos from our tipsters

There are still a few days in 2015 for you to send us all your money! Note the Youth for Human Rights pamphlet in this woman’s hands. Thanks, Legoland.

 
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BOOK NOTES

We didn’t get a chance to include photos in our book, so we’ve posted them at a dedicated page. Reader Sookie put together a complete index and we’re hosting it here on the website. Copies of the paperback version of ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ are on sale at Amazon. The Kindle edition is also available, and shipping instantly.

Our book tour is concluded for now. (But you can re-experience it through this nifty interactive map!) We’ll let you know about future appearances. Previous events: Santa Barbara (5/16), Hollywood (5/17), Orange County (5/17), San Diego (5/20), San Francisco (5/22), New York (6/11), Chicago (6/20), Toronto (6/22), Clearwater (6/28), Washington DC (7/12), Hartford (7/14), Denver (7/17), Dallas (7/20), Houston (7/22), San Antonio (7/24), Austin (7/25), Paris (7/29), London (8/4), Boston (8/24), Phoenix (9/15), Cleveland (9/23), Minneapolis (9/24), Portland (9/27), Seattle (9/28), Vancouver BC (9/29), Sydney (10/23), Melbourne (10/25), Adelaide (10/28), Perth (10/30)

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 19, 2015 at 07:15

E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of LA attorney and former church member Vance Woodward

UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists

GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice

SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts

PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill
The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield