We had our first “real” raid at Scientology’s new Ideal Org at 1424 16th Street NW on Saturday. On our permit application, we listed a start time as 12:00 noon, and an end time of 8:00 PM, and I think we were at our peak around 6:00 in the evening. Very few stayed the entire eight hours, but all in all, it wasn’t too shabby, if you ask me, as this was a bigger crowd than some of the more recent “global” raids we’ve had in DC.
I showed up a little after 3:00. We had about five people at the Ideal Org, and as I would soon learn, a bunch of people at the Founding Org.
The Ideal Org was pretty quiet when I first arrived. Scientology spokesmodel Sylvia Stanard was there, Sadie was there, as well as a gentleman who smoked a lot.
That’s most of what they did – they sat on the front steps looking bored and quite fail. Sylvia even was periodically reading Parade magazine while on the steps.
However, Sylvia was also quite bold, as she took a bucket at one point and came right over to us, and doused the sidewalk chalk despite our guarding it. Of course, a little bucket tech doesn’t hurt us – we chalked it right back up.
After a little bit, a few of us went over to the Founding Org to see what was going on over there. Interestingly enough, Sadie said that she was going to the Founding Org about that same time, and so we actually walked with her for the most part. The Founding Org was a bit busier than the Ideal Org, both with in-and-out Scientologist traffic, and Anonymous.
Anons with signs outside the Founding Org.
Interestingly, a graffiti artist tagged the Founding Org prior to our raid, and so the mark of “AERA” was written in blue on the Org. “Aera” appears to be a local graffiti artist unconnected to Anonymous (though I’m sure that Scientology would love to blame it on us). And then that’s Sadie standing next to the tag.
Meanwhile, Anonymous has really come a long way from the early days. Originally, people were a bit paranoid about being associated with the movement, and paranoid about who was a Scientologist, who was spying on us, etc. Getting a cease-and-desist letter was kind of a shock. Now, some Anons are demanding that the Scientologists reveal their names, and then send them their cease-and-desist letters, since to receive a “C&D” is now like a mark of honor. I believe the view of the C&D as a mark of honor was brought about by me, since I was one of the early letter-receivers, and I scanned it, framed it, and hung it up, all the while making fun of them.
And now, the latest Anon to demand that Scientology reveal her identity is JB:
And then when Sadie ignored JB’s requests, JB got annoyed…
Eventually, we bimbled on back to the Ideal Org, to bring our raid to a single site. Coincidentally, Sadie went back over, too, though she eventually got well ahead of us, since it takes a while for our group to navigate the various pedestrian crossing signals.
When we returned, MaidofWin had arrived, and she was truly a “Maid of Win” on the southwest corner in front of the Carnegie Institute:
And Sadie reported back to Sylvia on what went on. Based on Sylvia’s expression, I would say that the Sylvia was not amused:
And while we were at the Ideal Org, we had a good time:
Group photo!
Little JB holds up a sign with the Geico money being talking about all the money they’ll save if they leave Scientology.
And as night fell, the lulz continued…
And of course, the Rickroll…
Then Sadie was a good little drone for Scientology, at least while Sylvia was watching, and dutifully filmed us from the front walk.
But like I said, it’s not like we particularly care about being filmed anymore. Scientology has revealed itself to be rather pathetic in how it attempts to counter us. After all, its main defense is hiding – let us not forget curtain tech, after all. And what kind of Scientologist hides? It’s -8.0 on the Tone Scale.
And of course, the flag…
We hereby claim this area in the name of Anonymous.
And finally, as we were leaving, Scientology got ready to clear the sidewalk of our chalkings, using bucket tech rather than hose tech. Sadie made a face, and I don’t know if it was a look of evil or glee…
“I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!”
All in all, though, this was an awesome raid. The public was again very receptive to our cause as they learned that Scientology had settled into their neighborhood, and then of course, the Scientologists were fail. And we had cookies! Cookies are always fun.
And now, we’re looking forward to Halloween. The Ideal Org is allegedly going to have its grand opening on Halloween, and we’ll be there to raid. Oh, yeah. See you there?