Clearwater, FL
Clearwater is the worldwide headquarters of Scientology. The organization's Flag Land Bureau (known as "Flag") is located in Clearwater. Clearwater is the location of Scientology's Fort Harrison Hotel, where Lisa McPherson was held against her will and subsequently died.
Clearwater officials were alarmed to learn of Scientology's plans to infiltrate and take over the city.
Amid the controversy, Scientology officials tried to frame Clearwater Mayor Gabe Cazares for a hit-and-run.
Date | Title | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lisa McPherson | |||
| September 23, 1976 | Clearwater Sun: Police Hold Scientologists' Guns | Police confiscated a cache of weapons in a temporary Church of Scientology headquarters in Dunedin after the Scientologists abandoned the base | |
| November 3, 1979 | Clearwater Sun: Scientologists Plot City Takeover | The Church of Scientology of California had big plans for the unsuspecting community of Clearwater when it arrived there in November 1975. In essence, the sect wanted to control the city's politicians, media and religious groups. | |
| November 3, 1979 | Clearwater Sun: Scientologists Find Few Sympathizers After Latest Revelations | Residents Friday denounced the Church of Scientology after documents released by a federal judge a day earlier showed the cult wanted to "take control" of Clearwater. Many of the residents interviewed were not familiar with details of the case, but most expressed a strong hostility toward church members. | |
| November 3, 1979 | Clearwater Sun: Judge Rules Papers Available to Public | Documents revealing a Scientology espionage campaign against government agencies ranging from the IRS to the Clearwater City Commission were declared open to further public inspection by a federal judge. | |
| November 3, 1979 | Clearwater Sun: Shocked Officials Say They'll Fight | Church of Scientology documents released Thursday that outline the Scientologists' intention to control or "take over" the city left local government officials wondering Friday how the group planned to reach that goal - and what the city should do about it. | |
| April 4, 1982 | Lee Recounts Sect Horrors | A woman they called "Lee" recounted her 12 years in the Scientology and her emotional and physical struggle to break away from the sect. After four months in Clearwater, still finding no success with OT Level exorcisms, she was "physically and mentally in bad shape," but afraid to leave the church. | |
| May 2, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Sect Role in City's Hearing Up in Air | When Clearwater's public hearings on Scientology begin, one of the main players may be conspicuously absent: the Church of Scientology itself. The sect's Tampa lawyer said if the hearings proceed as mapped out by city officials, the church will not participate. | |
| May 2, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Sect Still Scrapping in Five Local Lawsuits | In May 1982, Scientology had at least five lawsuits active in Pinellas County, involving harassment of the mayor and his wife, complaint against the tax assessor, and suits by former members over their ill-treatment. | |
| May 3, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Sect Victims' Fund Asks For Rent-Free Stadium Use | The Scientology Victims' Defense Fund requested that Clearwater waive rental fees for the organization to use Jack Russell Stadium. | |
| May 4, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Petitioners Back Hearings on Sect | More than 450 people signed petitions in support of the Clearwater's efforts "to inspect and regulate Scientology activites". | |
| May 5, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Hubbard's Son Will Testify Today | The son of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, testified in the opening round of public hearings on the sect. Boston attorney Michael Flynn, who proposed the hearings in 1981, said Ron DeWolfe - once known as L. Ron Hubbard Jr. - would be the second witness to be heard in City Hall, following Ed Walters, a former high-ranking church officer. | |
| May 6, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Sect Hearings Open Calmly | Testimony began in the much-awaited and much-publicized hearings that city officials said could result in two ordinances aimed at curbing Scientology solicitation and alleged fraudulent activities. City commissioners and officials were cautious throughout the hearings, careful to stick to the business side of the church and not delve into religious aspects. | |
| May 6, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: L. Ron Hubbard's Son Says His Father 'Destroys' Foes | The son of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, testified Wednesday his father was obsessed with controlling people and "destroyed" those who opposed him and the church. | |
| May 6, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: They'll Take the Kool-Aid | The Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater could be the scene of another Jonestown-type mass suicide when Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard dies, according to Ed Walters, a former high-ranking church official. | |
| May 7, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Fort Harrison: 'Horror House' | A 17-year veteran of the Church of Scientology told Clearwater city commissioners Thursday that she lived through "horror" while staying at the former Fort Harrison Hotel. | |
| May 7, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Sect Founder's Son Thinks Dad is Dead | The son of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard said he thinks his father probably is dead, although "I have never seen his dead body". | |
| May 7, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Writer Says Sect Harasses Her | In sect documents released by federal court order in 1976, Paulette Cooper emerged as perhaps Scientology's most hated enemy because of her damaging writings about the sect and its activities. According to the documents, she was the target of "Operation Freakout," a plan to get her "incarcerated in a mental institution or jail, or at least hit her so hard that she drops her attacks." | |
| May 8, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Sect Witnesses Recount Fear, Deception, 'Suicide' | Former members testified about deplorable living conditions and an instilled fear of breaking from the sect. | |
| May 8, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Hearings 'An Audit' of Sect's Founder | Clearwater's public hearings on the Church of Scientology is just a case of sect founder L. Ron Hubbard getting a dose of his own medicine, according to one interested spectator. | |
| May 9, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Witnesses Tell of Break-Ins, Conspiracy | In a story of international intrigue, a former senior executive of the Church of Scientology testified about a worldwide sect network involving infiltrations, conspiracies and smuggling. | |
| May 9, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Sect to Counterattack, City Told | Clearwater city commissioners received a warning and some advice as witnesses gave final testimony against the Church of Scientology during public hearings on the sect's activities. | |
| May 10, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Sect to Participate in Hearing Today? | Four days were set aside for Scientology to present its side of the story. After the hearings began, church spokesman Hugh Wilhere said no decision had been reached as to whether the organization would participate. | |
| May 11, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: Sect Lawyer Calls Hearings 'a Roman Circus,' Walks Out | Calling Clearwater's public hearings on the Church of Scientology a "Roman Circus," the sect's lawyer walked out on the proceedings. "The Church of Scientology has been embarrassed and scandalized," said Tampa attorney Paul B. Johnson before leaving. | |
| May 11, 1982 | Clearwater Sun: 16 Witnesses Unlock Sect's Closed Society | The 16 witnesses who testified in Clearwater's public hearings on Church of Scientology activities provided the first-hand information city officials will use if they decide to design ordinances to regulate the sect. |