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| Dear Sir/Madam, You may be aware of the current peaceful, worldwide protests held monthly by the activist group known as Anonymous against the Church of Scientology. Our protests are always peaceful. We have no desire for conflict with the Scientologists or the police. We are there simply to inform the public of our belief that the Church of Scientology is a corrupt organisation that is harmful and dangerous to its members and the public. Our protests are always held in what could best be described as a street party style. We dress up, have fun, play music, sing, chant very silly demonstration chants and involve the public as much as possible in a fun but educational way. As far as I am aware there have been no arrests for extremist behaviour within Anonymous since our protests began in February 2008. On the 13th September 2008, the Birmingham, UK branch of Anonymous held a protest in New Street, Birmingham against the Church of Scientology. During this protest we had two megaphones and were playing music, dancing and chanting as we have done for seven months. On other protests the police have only occasionally asked us to keep the noise down or to take breaks, usually due to complaints from business owners. This we have always complied with. We also comply with any requests direct from businesses. However, on the 13th September a Scientologist approached a police officer with a print out from NETCU. In it there was case history and statute that stated that “Pop Up Protests” could not use a megaphone or chant as this may appear intimidating and be placing the views of a minority onto a majority. Anonymous will always comply with a police officer’s request, so we stopped using the megaphone. We have been unable to find any documentation on the NETCU website containing the same advice that the police officer claimed was in the documentation handed to him. The police officer told us that fewer than 100 people at a protest was deemed a “Pop Up protest”. Yet in seven months of protesting, we have never heard this phrase or been told to turn off the megaphone completely and to never use it again. When asking the police officer what NETCU was, he didn’t say “National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit” but, “It’s a House of Lords thing!” He also refused to give us the document that the Scientologist had handed to him for our own perusal. Of course, the police officer’s conduct is a matter to take up with West Midlands Police. I have written to you to seek clarification of our rights in protesting. Are we allowed to use a megaphone? If not, why not? What are the statutes and case histories that stop us? Are we allowed to chant demonstration chants? What defines a Pop Up protest? You may wish to know what we were doing when the Scientologist approached the police officer. We were performing the Village People’s disco hit YMCA for the public. Whilst doing this other members were handing out leaflets (which we have already cleared with Birmingham City Council). The music was coming out of a megaphone and we were dancing and singing. The public were joining in. It was certainly not intimidating. In fact, the most intimidating actions of the day were those of the Scientologists staring at us and taking photographs throughout the protest. Our chants are also very silly. Our favourite is: “That is a pigeon” (pointing to a pigeon) “That is a cult!” (pointing to the building where the Church of Scientology is based). The Crown Prosecution Service has already made it clear that the term “Cult” describing the Church of Scientology is not offensive. This chant generally gets a laugh from passing members of the public and a request to know why we are there. I understand fully why NETCU was created, but I believe that we are not domestic extremists. To class Anonymous as such puts our peaceful group in the same category as bigots and fascists. I have never seen Combat 18 or the A.L.F performing disco hits to the public. If you can provide us with some clarification of these matters, I would be very grateful. Yours sincerely, |
| QUOTE |
| Dear Sir/Madam, You may be aware of the current peaceful, worldwide protests held monthly by the activist group known as Anonymous against the Church of Scientology. Our protests are always peaceful. We have no desire for conflict with the Scientologists or the police. We are there simply to inform the public of our belief that the Church of Scientology is a corrupt organisation that is harmful and dangerous to its members and the public. Our protests are always held in what could best be described as a street party style. We dress up, have fun, play music, sing, chant very silly demonstration chants and involve the public as much as possible in a fun but educational way. As far as I am aware there have been no arrests for extremist behaviour within Anonymous since our protests began in February 2008. On the 13th September 2008, the Birmingham, UK branch of Anonymous held a protest in New Street, Birmingham against the Church of Scientology. During this protest we had two megaphones and were playing music, dancing and chanting as we have done for seven months. On other protests the police have only occasionally asked us to keep the noise down or to take breaks, usually due to complaints from business owners. This we have always complied with. We also comply with any requests direct from businesses. However, on the 13th September a Scientologist approached a police officer with a print out from NETCU. In it there was case history and statute that stated that “Pop Up Protests” could not use a megaphone or chant as this may appear intimidating and be placing the views of a minority onto a majority. We complied with the request, as Anonymous will always comply with reasonable requests, and this seemed it to us. However, upon returning to our respective homes, and checking the NETCU website, we were unable to find any mention of “Pop Up Protests.” We then wrote a letter to NETCU, asking about the situation, requesting clarification on the matter. No reply was received. On the 11th October 2008, we once again held a protest against the Church of Scientology, and, as we had received no clarification on the matter, took a megaphone along. We were approached by an officer even before we had all set up, who also told us that megaphones were not allowed, however, this time he said that this was due to recent changes in Section 5 of the Public Order Act, and again mentioned the phrase "Pop Up Protests." Once more, we complied, and the megaphone went unused for the day. Similarly to the previous month though, upon looking up the statute, and searching for any mention of recent amendments to it, we could find no reference to any changes, or anything regarding the use of a megaphone. Are we allowed to use a megaphone? If not, why not? What are the statutes and case histories that stop us? Are we allowed to chant demonstration chants? What defines a Pop Up Protest? If you can provide us with some clarification of these matters, I would be very grateful. Yours sincerely, |
| QUOTE (anonymitts @ Oct 13 2008, 09:32 AM) |
| Letter sent to CPS today. *anonymitts patiently waits for reply |
| QUOTE (Swifty @ Oct 13 2008, 11:21 AM) | ||
i get the feeling u might have to be very patient as usual |
| QUOTE (Bruce @ Oct 21 2008, 08:39 AM) |
| Wheeler acting by himself or is all this megaphone nonsense coming from higher up and if so where and how high ? Seems to me that if the Police are in receipt of 'threatening emails' from Anon against the cult they should either take some action against the perpetrator or shut up. Do you actually believe Wheeler when he says he has had sight of them? Have to ask, is Wheeler connected in some way with the Cult or is he just a bit thick ? It's about time Brumanon byepassed the lowest ranks and put a complaint in against this guy at the highest level, at the very least it may flush a couple of things out - discuss. Bruce |
| QUOTE |
| Wheeler acting by himself or is all this megaphone nonsense coming from higher up and if so where and how high ? |
| QUOTE |
| Do you actually believe Wheeler when he says he has had sight of them? |
| QUOTE |
| Have to ask, is Wheeler connected in some way with the Cult or is he just a bit thick ? |
| QUOTE |
| It's about time Brumanon byepassed the lowest ranks and put a complaint in against this guy at the highest level, at the very least it may flush a couple of things out - discuss. |
| QUOTE (Nixon @ Oct 21 2008, 07:08 PM) |
| nixons opinion= fuck it/him and bring them |