COMPLETE Press Release: Clearwater business petition MAN HARPOONS!

Originally Posted by Girlontheinternet

edit: wow, what the hell happened to the second reference?
edit edit: oh, they're tinyurls.

I'm also having the admins try to turn off auto-parsing for this forum. It didn't work.

We will definitely want to double-check our URLS in our final version. Until then, we don't need to sweat it too much.

Well, there's working links in this thread so it doesn't matter too much. I found them and fixed them already.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA. May 14, 2008 - The Church of Scientology in Clearwater Florida is once again attempting to impede the rights of US citizens to free assembly and free speech.

On May 9th 2008 a petition[1] was filed with Mayor Frank Hillbard of Clearwater Florida. In that petition, 37 merchants of the Cleveland Street district assert that frequent anti-Scientology demonstrations are disruptive to commerce in downtown Clearwater, making it difficult to attract new customers to the downtown district.

A loosely-affiliated, internet-based group of individuals who refer to themselves as 'Anonymous' has held global protests against the Church of Scientology every month since February. They plan to continue holding demonstrations each month until the Church's tax exempt status is revoked (where applicable), it is properly penalized for its criminal activities, and it ceases all illegal and immoral activities that still take place today.

The fax number on the petition belongs to City Councilman Paul Gibson, who has long and extensive ties to the Church of Scientology.

The signatory list contains 6 duplicate business entries, 7 signatories that do not have a valid or existing business license in Clearwater and finally there are 3 that are completely illegible[2]. That indicates that of the original 37 signatories, only 21 are valid signatures - all of which have long standing ties to the Church of Scientology, the target of the protests the petition aims to stop.

Many of these businesses are not open during weekends, when the protests are held. Businesses with ties to Scientology that were open during the protests had 'Anonymous Not Welcome' signs featured predominantly in their shop fronts.

This petition is the latest in a series of attempts to thwart the legal rights of those opposed to the Church of Scientology. On March 10th, 2008, the Church of Scientology sought to enjoin future protests via judicial authority. A "Petition for Injunction for Protection Against Repeat Violence" was filed with Florida's Sixth Circuit District Court seeking the extraordinary remedy of injunctive restraint pending further proceedings. The Honorable W. Douglas Baird (Circuit Judge) struck down this original complaint and acted similarly upon re-filing (adding prejudice to the latter).[3]

A pattern of similar efforts to silence dissent can be found throughout Scientology's past.

[quote from an Anon goes here]

For more information, please visit Enturbulation.org. Updates on this and other stories pertaining to the Church of Scientology can be found at the Enturbulation Press Page[4].

[1]http://www.clearclearwater.com/images/1/1c/Pdfa6054.pdf

[2]Research supporting these claims can be found at Press Release: Clearwater business petition - Enturbulation.org Activism Forums and Press Release: Clearwater business petition - Enturbulation.org Activism Forums.

[3]http://www.sptimes.com/2008/03/12/im...injunction.pdf

[4]http://www.enturbulation.org/press-media

# # #

I lied. Here's some edits I made.

We need some fact checking on the original injuction...I really just guessed at the March 10th date.

Grammar needs some polish too, heading out for a bit so tossing that out there.

Originally Posted by Skeptic1337

We need some fact checking on the original injuction...I really just guessed at the March 10th date.

Grammar needs some polish too, heading out for a bit so tossing that out there.

Yeah, definitely need fact-checkers as much as we need writers and grammar/spelling nazis. We want our press releases to have credibility, so every one we write has to be accurate.

This just in:

Clearwater merchants upset over anti-Scientology protests - St. Petersburg Times

CLEARWATER — About three dozen downtown business owners are upset with a group of anti-Scientology protesters and want the City Council to do something about them.

But city leaders Tuesday said there's little they can do.

"Suspending the First Amendment is something we shouldn't spend a whole lot of time on," Councilman Paul Gibson said.

The loosely organized group Anonymous has held several recent demonstrations against the Church of Scientology. Many Cleveland Street businesses say the masked protesters and the constant chanting have begun to take a toll.

They say the monthly demonstrations are turning away customers and ruining the overall ambiance of a downtown that city leaders have spent years trying to revitalize. And, they say, the protesters are scaring away people.

A petition signed by 34 merchants and two residents asked the council for "assistance in this matter."

The petition said the local Anonymous group, mostly college students, have a right to peacefully protest, "but they are in no way peaceful."

"Their actions have prevented customers from coming into our stores," said the petition, which was submitted Friday to City Hall. "These people are making it difficult for us to attract customers downtown."

On Tuesday, the City Council spent less than two minutes discussing the issue. The members agreed to send a letter to the businesses, saying they would not address the issue.

"I'm glad the City Council recognized our rights as Americans to gather to speak our opinions and protest," said Joshua Nussbaum, 19, a student in Hillsborough County and local Anonymous organizer. "They did what was right . . . and we will continue to do what we think is right."

The majority of the business owners who signed the petition are Scientologists, which led some in Anonymous to question whether the church had a hand in the petition. But Church of Scientology spokeswoman Pat Harney and a number of business owners who spoke with the Times on Monday denied it.

The merchants said they were concerned the protesters would harm the downtown that Clearwater is trying to rebuild.

"You can hear them screaming, hear cars honking and people who come here for a massage just want to relax," said Gen Cournoyer, owner of Botanica Day Spa, 123 N Fort Harrison Ave.

"You're entitled to free speech," said Cournoyer, a 26-year-old church member, "but we're trying to make a living and it can affect the people who work here. Plus it's an eyesore. They look punkish."

But the dissatisfaction isn't limited to businesses owned by Scientologists.

Debbie King manages Trickels Jewelers and is not a Scientologist. She didn't sign the petition but wishes the protesters would go away. "People don't want to come downtown when that's going on," King said.

She added that the masks Anonymous members don to shield their identities also scare children.

Angela Gioffre, who owns an Italian clothing store and helped organize the petition, said she will talk to other merchants to see if they can meet with city leaders.

"We have to find a solution," she said.

Others, though, don't see the protests as a big deal.

"When they're out there, they do whatever they do, but they haven't scared our customers," said Manola Louvon, 30, whose father owns Chiang Mai, a Thai restaurant at 415 Cleveland St.

Local leaders have invested millions into revitalizing the downtown's core, particularly its main east-west thoroughfare — Cleveland Street — where most of the affected businesses are located.

And while council members say they want to lure more businesses downtown and help keep the ones there happy, they say the demonstrators haven't done anything illegal.

Anonymous organizer Nussbaum said "our problem is with the management and leadership of the church," and questioned how the marches could harm local shops.

"We've never said anything to the employees or customers — we've always been polite," he said adding that members are frequent patrons of many of the businesses.

He also pointed out that no Anonymous member has been arrested or cited during the demonstrations. But he said he would be willing to meet with business owners.

The group, which marched in downtown for the fourth time last Saturday, has a core of about 80 members, he said. The next march will be June 14 when they'll dress like pirates, calling the demonstration "Sea Arrrgh," a poke at Sea Org, a religious order in the church.

Comments section open.

Time to finalize and launch the press release harpoon, methinks.

"Suspending the First Amendment is something we shouldn't spend a whole lot of time on," Councilman Paul Gibson said.

Scilon or not, I now have a hardon for this guy. Did we ever actually confirm HIS connection to the cult? Seems entirely possible the petition was dropped off at his office, and he forwarded it the mayor or news or whoever got the online copy for us. We need to figure out what actually happened and re-write the part of the press release that implies he was involved in this effort.

If I understand correctly, the Paul Gibson trail goes something like this (research credit goes to womanon):

Anonymous stifles clearwater businesses?

Fax # belongs to Paul Gibson's office

His background info according to his bio on the Clearwater gov page:

Councilmember Paul F. Gibson

He is a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Action First on Clearwater Beach for the past four (4) years

Paul Gibson
Age: 58
How long in area: 9 years
Education: Bachelor's degree in accounting, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va.
Family: Three daughters

Occupation: Realtor with Re/Max Action First; former president of Food Cart Systems

Before he was a Realtor, he worked for Food Cart Systems

Northpinellas: They agree on taxes. That's it

Food Cart Systems is a WISE business

Food Cart Systems, Inc.
Paul F. Gibson
533 Cleveland St.
Clearwater, FL 33755-4007
United States
(1) 727-449-8700
(1) 727-449-1881
pgibson2@tampabay.rr.com

AFAIK -- there are no service completions in the database for him... but his employment history leads directly back to being president of a WISE business. Don't know if that's enough evidence for a reporter, but I'd presume the president of a WISE company has to be drinking the Kool Aid.

Totally unrelated, but man -- Paul Gibson gets around. Intellius shows he's lived in:

CLEARWATER, FL
PLANO, TX
CLEARWATER BEACH, FL
EXCELSIOR, MN
GAITHERSBURG, MD
HOPKINS, MN
WAYZATA, MN
WEST PALM BEACH, FL
SCHAUMBURG, IL
ROCKVILLE, MD

Yeah the connection for working for a WISE business and being a scilon is a bit sketchy I say dump that all together.

Originally Posted by Skeptic1337

Yeah the connection for working for a WISE business and being a scilon is a bit sketchy I say dump that all together.

Agreed. Any reporter interested enough is going to come back and peek at these threads anyway... and they can do the digging on their own. Don't want to risk screwing with our credibility. It's enough to know that we need to keep an eye on this cat. We can keep digging on his background in the meantime.

EDIT: Crap... on the "clear" list:

Scientology Clear List, Auditor 157, circa March 1979

Clear 10,821 PAUL GIBSON

(given his age -- now 59 -- that's within the realm of possibility)

No way to tell if that's THIS Paul Gibson though. Best to leave it out until we can nail it down. Won't hurt our press release.

Yeah...I would say we need to update with it being denied and thanking Clearwater for their common sense.

THIS IS THE FINALIZED VERSION OF THE PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA. May 14, 2008 - The Church of Scientology in Clearwater Florida has once again failed to impede the rights of US citizens to free assembly and free speech.

On May 9th 2008 a petition was filed with Mayor Frank Hibbard of Clearwater Florida[1]. In that petition, 37 merchants of the Cleveland Street district assert that frequent anti-Scientology demonstrations are disruptive to commerce in downtown Clearwater, making it difficult to attract new customers to the downtown district.

A loosely-affiliated, internet-based group of individuals who refer to themselves as 'Anonymous' has held global protests against the Church of Scientology every month since February. They plan to continue holding demonstrations each month until the Church's tax exempt status is revoked (where applicable), it is properly penalized for its criminal activities, and it ceases all illegal and immoral activities that still take place today.

The signatory list contains 6 duplicate business entries, 7 signatories that do not have a valid or existing business license in Clearwater and finally there are 3 that are completely illegible[2]. That indicates that of the original 37 signatories, only 21 are valid signatures - all of which have long standing ties to the Church of Scientology, the target of the protests the petition aims to stop.

Many of these businesses are not open during weekends, when the protests are held. Businesses with ties to Scientology that were open during the protests had 'Anonymous Not Welcome' signs featured predominantly in their shop fronts.

This petition is the latest in a series of attempts to thwart the legal rights of those opposed to the Church of Scientology. On March 10th, 2008, the Church of Scientology sought to enjoin future protests via judicial authority. A "Petition for Injunction for Protection Against Repeat Violence" was filed with Florida's Sixth Circuit District Court seeking the extraordinary remedy of injunctive restraint pending further proceedings. The Honorable W. Douglas Baird (Circuit Judge) struck down this original complaint and acted similarly upon re-filing (adding prejudice to the latter)[3].

A pattern of similar efforts to silence dissent can be found throughout Scientology's past.

On Tuesday, the City Council spent less than two minutes discussing the issue. The members agreed to send a letter to the businesses, saying they would not address the issue[4].

For more information, please visit Enturbulation.org. Updates on this and other stories pertaining to the Church of Scientology can be found at the Enturbulation Press Page[5].

[1]http://www.clearclearwater.com/images/1/1c/Pdfa6054.pdf

[2]http://forums.enturbulation.org/42-english-composition-only/press-release-clearwater-business-petition-13834/2/#post254319

[3]http://www.sptimes.com/2008/03/12/images/Scientologyinjunction.pdf

[4]http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/article503671.ece

[5]http://www.enturbulation.org/press-media

# # #

Brilliant! Change the lead to "The Church of Scientology in Clearwater Florida has once again failed to impede the rights of US citizens to free assembly and free speech." and double-check the citations (I'm too drunk, presently) and I vote 'finished.'