Part 71: On the Pavement Against Scientology in Hollywood – Can You Ever Really Leave a Cult?
Published January 25, 2024
Photo of former Scientologist Serge Del Mar live streaming at the Blue Building in Hollywood as Lara Anderson and others including Jessica Palmadessa look on next to L. Ron Hubbard Way by author (GoPro Hero 11 Black).
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By Zachary Ellison, Independent Journalist
As I recently wrote, protests in Hollywood and beyond have disrupted Scientology recruiting efforts in recent weeks. To get at the story, I decided to shadow those against the Church of Scientology in Hollywood hearing the tales particularly of those who have escaped from the self-help cult. Now seeking accountability, they have been joined by activists like cop watcher William Gude and social media star Jessica Palmadessa, but after spending two nights late into the early morning observing the action its people like Serge Del Mar and Lara Anderson the national press missed.
On the second night I found myself outside the facility on Sunset Boulevard known as the Blue Building on the so-called “Horseshoe” side on Fountain Avenue side with Del Mar and Anderson, both of whom have been open about their stories being inside and ultimately leaving Scientology. After some time of streaming while Andersons husky roamed the grass of the compound, which used to be a hospital, a window on the third floor in a dark room was quickly raised and loudly shut, Anderson thought she was a camera inside. It gave me the creepy, crawly feelings with a nervous laugh!
Earlier that evening I had joined others at the Hollywood Boulevard and Ivar Street location in the Guaranty Building, built in 1923 in the Beaux Arts style. One of the demonstrators spotted a man sitting in silver Mercedes with the tinted windows down smoking, it seemed odd, he was just sitting there. So after a while we moved as a group up to question the man who insisted that he was simply on his phone talking with his girlfriend that he lived in the adjacent building. This wouldn’t last the night, after further following Del Mar, he would confront the man later on the sidewalk.
It is unclear if the man is in fact a member of the Church, but to its critics the idea of amateurish Scientology investigators seems entirely plausible in their lived experiences of harassment. To an extent, the strategy has worked, it’s not only the usual intimidation tactics which have included the apparent usage of one individual Patrick Perry and his pit-bull to attack activists including Aaron Smith-Levin, who also fled the Church and has gained a major social media following within the community and now beyond following his false arrest by LAPD on assault charges. Rain fell on Los Angeles as I drove home early Thursday morning just like Scientology has rained fake calls to the LAPD about guns and bombs to attack activists with intimidation.
Smith-Levin would sit for hours inside the LAPD Hollywood Station on January 19, while one officer in particular Tim Talman would take to the roof of the station to roost in the spectacle he had created against the protestors below. LAPD Media Relations has now published an update yesterday on their initial statement announcing an internal affairs investigation: “The LAPD is aware of concerns raised by community members regarding the conduct of officers involved in this incident. Internal Affairs is investigating the various allegations made.” Whether or not the Internal Affairs investigation will lead to any finding or disciplinary action remains to be seen.
In the LAPD, officers who are accused of misconduct appear before a 5 member “all-civilian” panel selected from a pool of 67 known as the Board of Rights supervised by the Office of Inspector General, which reports to the Police Commission. After that occurs, “the Chief of Police must either uphold the recommended penalty of the Board of Rights or impose a less severe penalty within ten days of delivery of a certified copy of the Board’s decision,” according to LAPD procedures. The process includes the superficial ability to strike panelists by selected by either side who may have a conflict of interest in the matter.
This system was changed from the prior non-civilian system used until 2017 after voters approved, and officers who do not wish to face an “all-civilian” panel can instead select a 3 person panel of 1 civilian and 2 LAPD Command Staff members. According to a March 17, 2023 article by Los Angeles Times journalist Libor Jany “an internal LAPD document that was reviewed by The Times shows a wide variation in the number of times examiners were selected to serve.” As Jany describes, some panelists have not been selected at all because they are stricken from the initial 9 selected that’s whittled down to 5 under the guise of fairness, as a result some panels are not selected at all.
So whether Tim Talman will be disciplined at all remains to be seen even as the video and witness testimony were sufficiently enough to result in the LAPD issuing further statement 5 days after they initially denied that Patrick Perry was associated with Scientology, or that any misconduct had occurred. LAPD initially stated that “after much consideration, only one individual was arrested for battery.” There’s no video evidence at all though showing Smith-Levin attacking Perry in any way, it’s not a word of mouth type of situation, and Perry displayed no visible injuries after being released and denying that he was up to anything on video.
In other LAPD news, the Command Staff shake-up is bigger than LAPD Chief Moore who announced his retirement on January 12 to be effective at the end of February with Moore receiving a consulting contract afterwards. Also retiring along with Chief Moore according to records obtained by me today using the California Public Records act are Assistant Chief Robert Marino and Deputy Chief Kris Pitcher, the internal memorandum from Moore is dated Monday December 18, just one day before Libor Jany and Richard Winton of the Los Angeles Times would report on two whistleblower complaints made to OIG alleging Moore ordered Internal Affairs to stop investigating Cory Palka and instead investigate Mayor Karen Bass.
Kris Pitcher was previously accused of engaging in retaliation after illegal gun sales at the LAPD Academy became the subject of investigation by the LAPD Commercial Crimes unit led by Captain Lillian Carranza and Detective Melchor Vergara. Moore is known to be close to Pitcher, and when Kevin Rector and Richard Winton of the Times investigated the story for their March 4, 2022 piece, they noted that Pitcher had defended the investigation into the Academy saying “The integrity of that investigation is outstanding. It is very thorough.” For his part Moore told the Times that he too stood by the “actions taken to date.”
Moore and Carranza had clashed in the past as well over LAPD’s response to Carranza being harassed with an artificial sexual image in November 2018 and leaked audio of another detective discussing her in graphic sexual terms in November 2013. According to the report by Winton, she did not learn of the audio “until the officer who made the recording notified her” despite LAPD leaders being aware of it, and that Carranza learned about the image “from a colleague.” Moreover, LAPD’s investigation concluded that despite 4 separate known releases of the image, that “an investigation said it was not possible to identify who initiated the photo-sharing.”
LAPD denied Carranza’s claim setting off a legal battle with “Lawyers for the city” arguing she “had never seen the image in the workplace and was not the subject of comments, jokes or other anything resembling sexual harassment in the office, saying she only saw the image when her attorney gave it to her.” Defense attorney Mark Waterman hired as outside counsel for the LAPD, said at the time that “She was not subject to interactions in her workplace that were sexually hostile…No one is teasing her.” Carranza wouldn’t win the $5 million she sought, but a jury would award her a $4 million dollar verdict.
The question of whether there is corruption in LAPD, and what it looks like can be vexing. The LAPD has so many disciplinary cases, that even Chief Moore has argued he lacked sufficient powers to resolve cases in a speedy manner. After an image mocking the death of George Floyd was circulated on Valentine’s Day 2020, Moore said that "I have no temperament or patience or allowance for them to remain in this organization.” Moore also recently criticized Los Angeles Police Protective League leader Jamie McBride for writing an editorial condemning “Coolio” style hair in the LAPD in reference to African-American officers.
News that Pitcher and Marino had retired came from a records request targeting McBride, out of 70 pages received. Not a single other one is actually an email sent from McBride or sent in response, but rather a panoply of documents ranging from department notifications of opportunities for extra shifts at both USC Football Games and Dodgers Stadium, as well as LAPD operations in relation to COVID-19 and election day. Perhaps Jamie just isn’t a big emailer? This isn’t unusual, but it is one way to gain a picture into what the daily operations of LAPD’s leaders are like and their relationships. Were Chief Moore and Pitcher aware that the LA Times story was coming on the OIG complaints?
The relationship between Moore and McBride is vexing, for every report that has Moore doing the decent thing in contrast to McBride’s disregard for diverse hairstyles and departments the two have still functioned as the leader of the department and its union for since Moore became Chief in 2020 and McBride became union leader in 2014. I recently interviewed the LAPPL spokesman Tom Saggau about these issues, and I hope to reach out again to shore up just who is in command of the LAPPL as the LAPD works to select an interim chief and eventual replacement for Moore after he steps down next month.
The issue of what to do about Cory Palka, widely known as an aficionado of Scientology from actions such as putting one of the literature vending machines in the Hollywood Division station to being outed by the New York Attorney General’s office on November 3, 2022 for orchestrating an attempted cover-up of sexual assault will fall to the next Chief likely if there’s any intention to conclude the LAPD Internal Affairs investigation that was announced afterwards my Moore similarly to the Levin incident. It is believed according to Times reporting that this has become an FBI investigation.
The first night Serge Del Mar took me late at night to where he indicated a number of the Scientologists in Hollywood sleep. Del Mar spoke to me about how he had escaped the Church and how its founder David Miscavige now faces a civil lawsuit in Florida alleging that the organization engages in child trafficking “as children and forced to work for little or no pay as adults,” according to a February 15, 2023 report by Tampa Bay Times journalist Tracey McManus. After Miscavige avoided being served 27 times at 10 different Church properties in both Clearwater and Los Angeles, Judge Julie S. Sneed ruled against him. Scientology has sought to force the claims into arbitration, where a paid judicial professional would rule on the case matter.
According to the report, Scientology spokesperson Ben Shaw described the judge’s findings as “erroneous” claiming “Mr. Miscavige never evaded service” and: “The case is nothing but blatant harassment and was brought and is being litigated for the purpose of harassment — hoping that harassment will extort a pay day.” The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three Australian’s Gawain Baxter, Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris. According to the Sydney Morning Herald report by Ben Schneiders on July 22, 2022, all three were “part of the Scientology “Sea Org” and “Cadet Org” entities that involved them signing billion-year contracts to provide free or cheap labour to Scientology.”
As we stood outside the Horseshoe at the Blue Building, Del Mar and Anderson described exactly this experience, how Scientology uses “role-play” tactics to create subservience in young children that is later used as a control technique to coerce them into signing such contracts. In the past, the organization has even been able to win legal rulings endorsing this system of contracts as lawful according to Schneider. According to the report, “The Australians claim they endured years of emotional, physical and psychological abuse, in particular while spending more than a decade aboard Scientology’s Freewinds cruise ship in the Caribbean” during which she was “sexually assaulted on multiple occasions as a minor.” Sad and shocking claims.
According to Del Mar who was trafficked from Mexico to Florida as a youth after being given away by his parents, he too like the Australians experienced having his passport confiscated. Anderson was born into the cult, and her parents remain part of it to today. Their lonely vigil is a nightly occurrence, and they both assured me that Scientology was investigate me too for joining them as a gonzo journalist on scene. Full disclosure, I decided to test that theory a little bit, so we’ll see if Scientology decides to stalk me too as has been alleged they do to others. I can politely assure them as I learned yesterday in the LA County DA Victims Services panel on stalking that when charged as a felony, such actions can result in a 10 year prison sentence.
I am following up to secure the materials from the DA’s office session which featured Lenora Claire, a leading consultant in the stalking prevention and response field, Cletus Carlton a retired LAPD detective and private investigator, and Anna Nasset another consultant in the anti-stalking field, and founder of Stand Up Resources. In the most severe stalking cases, it is driven by obsession, erotomania and a desire to create fear in the culprit. That Scientology is alleged to engage in such behavior is widely discussed, but proving it has been another matter as actress Leah Remini seeks to prove claims against the Church here in Los Angeles where it is rooted.
Can you ever leave a cult? I’m not sure, and the question of what’s a cult and what’s not is more debated than ever. All I can say after spending two nights on the streets of Hollywood seeking out the truth is that Scientology absolutely gives you the creepy crawlies and I found both Del Mar and Anderson highly credible. I think the tendency that exists is to dismiss the opposition to this Church as unfounded, but as Del Mar and Anderson prove, it is possible to leave the cult. We can only hope more leave!
Whether Los Angeles can leave corruption behind, including Scientology related corruption is a whole beast of its own to consider. To me, the question of whether the organization, which has a significance presence throughout Southern California is in fact an ongoing criminal enterprise deserves further investigation, and if so, revocation of its tax-exempt status would be warranted as its critics, dare I say survivors, demand as accountability for the injustices experienced. To get it done though, it’s going to take a lot more organizing and greater number of demonstrators.
Can Scientology be taken down with the power of social media? It’s possible, but what really needs to happen is for more people to come forward with their stories of abuses. As Del Mar noted to me with passion when I made the suggestion they speak to journalists, the consistency and quality of coverage has been lacking to successfully apply public pressure to not disrupt their operations short-term, but to create such regulatory exposure that the misconduct we don’t see becomes public. Lawmakers can and should look into what is happening here, just as I hope journalists will do in their reporting to determine what the real story is and why it matters so much to people. Will it happen in court? I hope so, and I’m getting up-to-speed!
Link: How TikTok Accidentally Created a Scientology Heartthrob
Link: Serge Del Mar YouTube
Link: Lara Anderson YouTube
Link: Aaron Smith-Levin YouTube
Link: Detectives claim LAPD chief sought investigation of Mayor Bass over USC scholarship
Link: Statement From The LAPD Regarding An Arrest In The Hollywood Area
Link: $4-million verdict for LAPD captain over fake nude photo shared by cops
Link: Members of LAPD disciplinary panels say they’re excluded because of policing views
Link: Scientology leader David Miscavige concealed whereabouts, federal judge says
Please support my work with your subscription or for direct aid use Venmo
Zachary Ellison is an Independent Journalist and Whistleblower in the Los Angeles area. Zach was most recently employed by the University of Southern California, Office of the Provost from October 2015 to August 2022 as an Executive Secretary and Administrative Assistant supporting the Vice Provost for Academic Operations and the Vice Provost and Senior Advisor to the Provost among others. Zach holds a Master’s in Public Administration and a Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Policy and Planning from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. While a student at USC, he worked for the USC Good Neighbors Campaign including on their newsletter distributed university-wide. Zach completed his B.A. in History at Reed College, in Portland, Oregon and was a writer, editor, and photographer for the Pasadena High School Chronicle. He was Barack Obama’s one-millionth online campaign contributor in 2008. Zach is a former AmeriCorps intern for Hawaii State Parks and worked for the City of Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation. He is a trained civil process server, and enjoys weekends in the great outdoors.
