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 Lee Baca shilling for Scientology at an event in November On Tuesday, Scientology’s Director of Public Relations for its Las Vegas “Celebrity Center,” Devon Newman, was arrested for her part in a bizarre plot to kidnap, try, and execute a local police officer to make a political point for the “sovereign citizens” movement. Tonight, Scientology’s Celebrity Center in Hollywood holds its 44th annual gala, and besides the usual church celebrities who are expected to show, we’ve been told that Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca plans to make an appearance early in the evening. For years, Baca has been an enthusiastic supporter of Scientology, showing up at many church events. But this time, we’re wondering if any press covering the event will dare to ask him about the Celebrity Center employee who was planning to kill a cop, or about Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavge, who hasn’t been seen in public in six years. Continue reading TONIGHT: LA Sheriff Lee Baca to Grace Scientology Gala, Days after “Celebrity Center” Employee Arrested for Planning to Kill a Cop
NOW POSTED BELOW: We have the 20-page police report detailing what Brutsche and Newman told police during the undercover investigation of their plan to kidnap and kill a police officer. AND FINALLY — A STATEMENT FROM SCIENTOLOGY ALSO: Devon Newman was once a tenant living in the home of Karen de la Carriere, former wife of the president of the Church of Scientology! See our update, below. Devon Campbell Newman, 67, became the public relations director of Scientology’s “Celebrity Center” in Las Vegas, Nevada early in 2010 and has remained in that position to the present day — that’s according to her own LinkedIn profile as well as numerous online records of her activities as a Scientologist. This week, she became known for something else. As a result of a police investigation that began in April, on Tuesday Newman and a six-time felon and registered sex offender named David Allen Brutsche, 42, were arrested for planning what police are calling a bizarre plot to kidnap and kill a random local police officer in a macabre publicity stunt to promote their “sovereign citizen” views. Continue reading PR Director of Scientology’s Las Vegas Celebrity Center Arrested in Plot to Assassinate a Cop Advertisement
The Fringes of the Internet met the Fringe Festival NYC last night, and we have a few photos to make you wish you’d been there with us as we had the pleasure of meeting Brandon Ogborn (above) and the rest of his talented cast. Continue reading Report From the Fringe: Underground Bunker Night at The TomKat Project
 Monique Rathbun has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Church of Scientology’s controlling entities and its leader David Miscavige for years of harassment she alleges have caused her serious harm since her husband, Mark “Marty” Rathbun, went public in 2009 with information about his life as a top executive in the church.
On Friday, the Comal County, Texas district court granted Monique a temporary restraining order, calling on Scientology to stop following her and electronically surveilling her. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday whether to convert the restraining order into a temporary injunction, but Monique’s attorney, Ray Jeffrey, tells us he thinks the matter will likely be delayed about two weeks. After four years of intense harassment, Monique is battling back, Jeffrey tells us, and they expect this to be a brutal fight. Continue reading MONIQUE RATHBUN FILES SUIT AGAINST SCIENTOLOGY OVER HARASSMENT
 We told you recently about Per Wickstrom, who owns a number of drug rehab centers in Michigan. Per’s businesses have been associated with Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon. But we’ve noticed that in recent years, he’s been getting away from the Narconon brand — and can you blame him? With Narconon mired in controversies and investigations and lawsuits in places like Oklahoma and Georgia — and attracting national media attention — word is getting out about the network’s shortcomings.
In Battle Creek, Michigan, Per owned a facility called Narconon Stone Hawk, but in 2008 he re-christened the place “A Forever Recovery,” and not only dropped the Narconon name, he’s doing his best to make it look like he’s severed ties with Scientology altogether. At its website, A Forever Recovery says it offers Christian-based, Native American-based, and “holistic” approaches to addiction and calls them “evidence-based, comprehensive, and personalized.” Continue reading Per Wickstrom Denied Expansion of Drug Rehab, Sues Michigan Town
 Claire Headley is taking us on our journey to train as Scientologists. She and her husband Marc were Sea Org workers who escaped from Scientology’s International Base in 2005. She spent years working with Scientology’s “tech,” and was trusted to oversee the auditing of Tom Cruise. Go here to see the first part in this series.
We’re continuing to learn what Scientologists actually do as they pay hundreds of dollars an hour to move up the “Bridge to Total Freedom.” This week, Claire tells us about Expanded Grade 1. What’s this level all about, Claire? CLAIRE: We’ve covered “objective processes” before and how they are targeted to deal with “Control, Communication, and Havingness” (CCH). This level specifically deals with addressing the issues most people have with help, control, and problems. Continue reading Scientology Makes the Grade: Touching Walls to Total Freedom
 Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he’s helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet.
This week, Jon, we wanted your thoughts on the whole schmear. L. Ron Hubbard’s ideas about the human mind and the physical universe really don’t comport with what science tells us about how the world works. But how does Hubbard’s worldview still continue to work for some people? JON: Explaining the cosmology of Scientology for A Piece of Blue Sky was a struggle. Continue reading How Does Scientology’s Cosmology Really Work? Historian Jon Atack Has a Theory
 On Sundays, we love to reveal to you the Scientology mailers and fliers that our tipsters have forwarded us during the week. And this time, we have a huge selection of fun stuff to share with you.
As Scientology nears its apocalypse, er, rather, its ginormous celebration of flowing theta when it opens the Super Power Building on October 6, it seems that it is pulling out all the stops to get its members to give, give, give! It’s almost like they know some sort of point of no return is coming, or something. This week, we have to hand it to the folks in Miami for getting the most creative when it comes to begging for your cold, hard cash. Continue reading Sunday Funnies: A Scientology Advertising Bonanza!
 The Tampa Bay Times broke the news Friday night: Finally, after almost 15 years since it first broke ground, Scientology’s “Super Power Building” is set to open on Sunday, October 6.
On Friday the Church of Scientology approached the Clearwater, Florida city council to obtain permits for a grand opening celebration on that date. Continue reading SCIENTOLOGY SUPER POWER IS COMING: OCTOBER 6!
 We’re still hearing from people about the Church of Scientology’s denials that it forces “disconnection” on members who have been excommunicated (“declared a suppressive person”).
Cindy Plahuta, of Colorado, has a sadly typical story of how she learned about disconnection. After more than 20 years in the church, she became concerned about things she couldn’t ignore — that the president of the Church of Scientology International, Heber Jentzsch, has reportedly been a prisoner of “The Hole” since about 2004, for example. When Cindy asked her daughter, Kara Landry, what she thought about Heber’s plight, Landry reacted by turning in her own mother to church ethics officers. (Previously, they had been very close — that’s them in a photo taken on Kara’s wedding day.) Landry subsequently disconnected from her, and since then Cindy has heard nothing from her daughter, who works at Scientology’s South Coast Mission in Orange County, California. Continue reading Scientologists Say the Darndest Things In Their Disconnection Letters
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