Yes, today was Anonymous DC’s annual “Sea Arrrgh” raid, where pirates was the theme. We usually do pirates in June, but due to problems with scheduling and then weather, we ended up scrapping the June raid and doing pirates in July.
The big thing about this raid was seeing the most recent development that came out of Sparrow’s solo raiding that he does during the week. Yesterday, Sparrow received an official Suppressive Person Declare, which is the Scientology equivalent of being excommunicated in other religious groups. I got to read his SP declare, and it was absolutely hilarious, with a number of things that just seemed “canned”, but in Scientology’s own little (alien) world, I’m sure it means something totally serious.
And meanwhile, here’s Sparrow, all smiles as a declared Suppressive Person:
Meanwhile, Scientology was trying to lure new recruits in with food. From what I’ve noticed, they’ve been setting up the tents on the front yard on Fridays and weekends in the summer. Usually the tents are open on all sides, but when we come raid, the tents are set up to block the view of the street. Thus:
I was also surprised to see MPDC Captain Jeff Herold at our raid. Usually, we don’t get the Special Operations Division cops at our raids, instead getting the regular patrol cops at our raid. Surprise: Herold’s now a Captain in the second district! He’s not a protest cop anymore! Turns out that Herold finally had enough of protests, especially when things started to turn a little personal. According to Herold, some people posted his home address and started bothering him at home, which I believe crosses a line somewhere. I’ve always viewed the relationship more as that of the Looney Tunes Wolf and Sheepdog cartoons. There, the wolf and sheepdog say hello to each other, clock in, and then proceed to kill each other until work is over. Taking it to Herold’s house is crossing a line somewhere, in my opinion – if not a legal line, then a line when it comes to human decency. So I don’t blame him for getting out. He also gets his birthday off again (this will make sense once I finish and release a photo set about an earlier event where this was discussed). Plus when it comes to dealing with Scientologists and laying down ground rules, I want Herold nearby. Herold doesn’t screw around when it comes to protest rules. I’m not so much worried about us, but about keeping the Scientologists in line. Either way, I’m glad to see Herold around to help keep the Scientologists in line, though I worry about not having Herold around at political demonstrations where things can get a little bit hairy at times.
Scientology also had another method for suppressing the suppressives: Cardboard Tech! Take a look:
Apparently, these gentlemen in the navy blue pinstriped suits are Scientology’s new hired thugs providing event “security”. But unlike the Lucas guy on the segway, these guys appeared to be unarmed. However, the way they shielded Sparrow with that large cardboard panel, you could tell what they were really up to.
And on the same topic of Scilon intimidation tactics, we have Vici Turrisi with the video camera:
Vici’s most recent tactic is to go out with a video camera any time there are protesters out, and openly film them. She usually does this on Sparrow, but did it on all of us this time. So it’s only fair that we photograph her doing so. If she even tried to go there and say I didn’t have her permission to photograph her, I was just going to counter that I never gave her permission to film me. Translated: Don’t go there.
And then the other Anons were just having a blast:
MaidofWin danced up a storm and solicited honks, this time wearing a really fun pirate outfit.
This was a new sign, basically saying that the Scientologists need to either demonstrate OT powers or get out already.
And then Cruci posed with what he dubbed the “troll car”:
And lastly, we had a “special guest” (kinda sorta) at this raid. Specifically, that’s where I met Mom for tomorrow’s trip to Chicago. Mom came in, got to meet the other Anons, and then we headed out to take care of getting ready for the trip. Pretty neat, if you ask me. Mom agrees that the Anons are a fun bunch, and quite passionate about their cause. Win!