June 13, 2008
Yarrrr! Those Anonymous guys we reported on a while ago are still going strong in their campaign to expose the dodgy practices and nasty tactics of the “Church” of Scientology, and they’re planning to make June as enturbulated as possible for the Xenu-believers, with this Saturday’s pirate-themed protest outside two of the “Church”‘s London sites, codenamed Operation Sea Arrrgh!.The London ‘chapter’ of Anonymous was greatly heartened by the City of London Police’s recent high-profile issuing of a court summons – and equally high-profile retraction of said summons – to a protester who uses the alias EpicNoseGuy (see this BBC News report for more). Turnout numbers for Sea Arrrgh are consequently expected to be high; following the cult sign fiasco (EpicNoseGuy’s sign, lest we forget, contained a direct quote from Mr Justice Latey calling Scientology a “dangerous cult” in a High Court ruling) we confidently predict that signs featuring the four-letter c-word will be much in evidence. We’ve also heard rumors of a very special feline-themed pirate ship, currently under construction.
But if you’re thinking of buying a standard-issue V mask for the protest from the usual supplier – Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue – beware: a poster on Wirah reported that staff at the sci-fi store had told him that suspected Scientologists had recently been in and bought the entire stock of the masks, and had asked shop assistants to take photos of anyone who came in trying to buy one. Will they ever learn?
Operation Sea Arrrgh!: 11am at Blackfriars station, moving to Goodge Street at 2pm