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Police records show Chief Sid Klein personally involved in soliciting and transporting money for anti-religious bigots. | |
Behind the Clearwater Ordinance was a desire to pass legislation which would allow city officials free and unrestrained access to the Church’s financial and administrative records. The ultimate aim was the use of local tax laws to harass the Church.
Or, in the words of the 11th Circuit, “these statements of purpose reveal an underlying objective to employ the taxlaws to discriminate against Scientology, a purpose that is patently offensive to the First Amendment.”
City officials spared no expense to generate their “fervor” against the Church, including hiring an out-of-town attorney to act as inquisitor during televised hearings which presented paid testimony from a parade of hired detractors. The Church was neither allowed to question those who testified nor to present witnesses of its own.
Richard Tenney helped to instigate marches in front of the Fort Harrison hotel and rallies at Jack Russell Stadium to raise money to fund anti-Scientology litigation.
City records reveal a memo from Police Chief Klein which “concerns tentative arrangements regarding the Scientology Victims’ Defense Fund Rally [at Russell Stadium] scheduled for ... May 22nd.” The “defense” fund he referenced was, in actual fact, well-known as a slush fund for bringing or supporting civil litigation against the Church.
“The Program will start with an Invocation, followed by ... certain anti-Scientology speakers...
“25-30 people with clipboards... will actually go into the grandstands and do the solicitation of funds. ... We will need to be concerned with the security of the counting of the money and then to follow the transporter of the funds back to the bank.”
The Clearwater police further assisted that effort by paying for travel expenses and hotel accommodations for those flown into town to testify out of a secret “Calzone Pizza” slush fund. (See “Secret Clearwater Police Slush Fund Revealed”.)
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