McPherson relatives lead
protest
St.
Petersburg Times, Dec. 6,
1998CLEARWATER -- Relatives of Lisa
McPherson made a tear-filled trip Saturday night
to the Scientology hotel where she spent her
final days under guard and in the grips of a
mental breakdown.
Her aunt and
uncle, Dell and Art Liebreich, and her cousin Kim
Krenek led a group of about 60 anti-Scientology
protesters who held candles and laid a wreath
outside a privacy wall at Scientology's Fort
Harrison Hotel. A few feet away, just beyond the
wall, was Room 174, where McPherson is said to
have spent 17 days under the care of fellow
Scientologists.
She died at 36 on
Dec. 5, 1995, and the Church of Scientology was
criminally charged last month with abuse and
practicing medicine without a license.
As Dell Liebreich
and Krenek wept, a Scientology staffer wrote down
license plate numbers of protesters who had
parked nearby. And church spokesman Brian
Anderson released a written statement saying in
part: "These protesters did not and do not
care about Lisa McPherson. The proof is this:
They are showing no love or kindness for any of
the thousands of church members who live in and
are continuing to serve this community as Lisa
once did."
McPherson's family
has filed a wrongful death lawsuit that contends
Scientology's procedures regarding mentally
disturbed parishioners are what killed her.
The church
contends Dell Liebreich was a disengaged relative
who was not interested in McPherson when she was
alive and who engineered the lawsuit to cash in
on her death.
Dell Liebreich and
Krenek are among McPherson's closest surviving
relatives. Her mother, Fannie McPherson of
Dallas, died shortly after the lawsuit was filed
in 1997.
Told of the
church's statement Saturday, Liebreich said,
"The protesters care a lot more about her
than they (Scientologists) did. . . . They did
nothing but torture her."
McPherson was
guarded, kept from licensed medical care, held
down and forced to swallow food and medicine,
according to documents in the civil and criminal
cases against Scientology.
Saturday marked
the first time McPherson's family had been to the
Fort Harrison. They traveled from Texas for the
ceremony, which also was attended by many of
Scientology's most determined critics.
Liebreich thanked
them and others around the world who have
expressed support for the family. Krenek wore a
locket with McPherson's picture. A bagpiper
played Amazing Grace. The family held close to a
private security team.
The evening vigil
followed a day of picketing by the critics in
downtown Clearwater as hundreds of Scientologists
stayed off the streets.
Visiting
parishioners and church staffers were ferried
between Scientology's buildings in rented vans
with dark tinted windows and holiday decorations.
When protesters came near, staffers ran into
church buildings, which were fortified in several
ways.
A 5-foot-high
masonry wall surrounding much of the Fort
Harrison Hotel was made three feet higher with
temporary lattice and cardboard. A row of
Christmas trees blocked views at another
Scientology hotel. Many entrances were blocked
from view.
"The church
and its members have made an active effort during
this week to avoid any sort of confrontation with
protesters, despite having been taunted and
baited continuously," Scientology said in a
statement.
About two dozen
police officers monitored the protest, which was
held without incident.
The church's
defensive posture contrasted with its history of
counterattack. At a similar protest early last
year, Scientologists surrounded the pickets,
taunted them, blocked their signs and blew out
their candles. In response to another picket last
December, about 3,000 Scientologists surrounded
the Clearwater Police Department in an angry
march that irritated city officials.
Their only
offensive this year was verbal. In its statement,
Scientology called the protesters a small group
of "biased and slanted" critics who
"don't represent the views of this
community."
The only obvious
presence of Scientologists on Saturday was on the
roof of the Fort Harrison, where about 20 church
staffers installed giant red letters atop the old
hotel's graceful facade. The words read:
"Happy Holidays!"
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OCCUPIED CLEARWATER
