Part 95: Taking Down the House of Cards – Scientology and the Corruption of the LAPD

Published April 29, 2024, Updated April 30, 2024.

Photo of two Los Angeles Police Department officers responding to take an assault report from me after being struck by a patron while filming at La Poubelle Bistro & Bar by author (GoPro Hero 11 Black).

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By Zachary Ellison, Independent Journalist

The caller's voice was slightly hesitant at first, before the sound kicked up on the new iPhone 15 Pro recently obtained for streaming purposes to replace my aged iPhone 8. “Hello, Is This Zachary?” after a slight moment, before introducing himself as “Mark from the Church of Scientology” and telling me that “this has gone too far” warning that they were preparing to take “legal action against me.” After confirming that I was in fact a journalist covering a protest against the group to the man at the end of the Alberta, Canada phone number, who described himself as a “greeter” before bitterly telling me that I was “more than just that.” Declining to comment further, I knew the reason for the call as I turned onto Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu advising the man to put in writing for an attorney’s response.

It was the same as the undoubtedly false 911 call made to the Los Angeles Police Department the night before in Hollywood as I sat in the Gelson’s Market parking lot, nearly empty at that hour live streaming on YouTube and looking at restaurateur Francois Koster’s car, a gray Tesla Model X with no license plates. One LAPD unit enters the parking lot and searches, before more arrive, and I’m soon ordered out of my car before being handcuffed and LAPD searching my vehicle. There was no kidnapping victim in my trunk, and soon protestors from across the street at Koster’s La Poubelle Bistro & Bar arrived. Early in the morning before, I had sat across on Bronson Street similarly broadcasting as Koster had arrived to meet a man believed to have taken part in multiple stalking incidents based on prior video recordings.

The group had struck the night before after the man, nicknamed “Cheeseburger” by protestors popularly known as the Squirrel Squad in reference to Church Founder L. Ron Hubbard’s term for dissidents, both member and non-member. After months, there they were, after one final protester confronted the man next to his dented vehicle, she pulled into the lot, and the “Chat” in my YouTube stream went wild. He had been seen before inside the blue-tented establishment speaking with him, but now she was meeting with him outside the restaurant. I didn’t dare get closer for a better view, as they both exited after a brief exchange, his car passing directly in front of mine. Overnight the clip would make a splash, appearing on the regular YouTube news broadcast by former Scientology member Natalie Webster “Scientology – Life After A Cult.”

“Is he getting his instructions for the evening,” Webster chuckles before crooning, “let’s just go meet-up in a random parking lot and have a conversation, ooh to be a fly on the wall.” She continues, “that’s right, wow, caught! she laughs, “no ties, no ties there, no ties there, just so happens to be the guy who followed multiple protestors to their homes, to bus stations, just like next-level, has harassed them, but there they are, there they are…nothing dodgy about that.” Just how dodgy remains to be seen, but the man along with accomplices are believed to be responsible for additional assaults, including a recent attack on protester Scottie Hochstetter known as “Defender of Ants” who was left with a black eye in front of La Poubelle. He would soon be swatted again in San Francisco wearing the same red friar outfit he had donned the week before in Hollywood.  

I’d seen him swatted before on tape, and even experienced him with it, but until you’re the clear target it’s hard to describe what it’s like being converged upon by police for a ridiculous reason. The handcuffs came off in the unseasonably cold late April night quickly, but when will the right people be in them? Recently, Los Angeles Times journalist James Queally wrote about attacks similar to these being carried out against the prosecutor and two LAPD detectives in the Danny Masterson sexual assault case. A former member of the Church of Scientology, the “That 70’s Show” actor is now doing 30 years hard time in California State prison, for his attacks, which included drugging committed inside La Poubelle. Koster had defended Masterson throughout his trial, accompanying him and harassing his victims including inside the courthouse.

I didn’t recognize any of the LAPD officers on scene, and for months LAPD has refused to give any explanation on the repeated swatting’s carried out against protestors, including at least on one occasion at gunpoint. Recently, advocates against the Church of Scientology met with a high-ranking representative for the LAPD Office of Inspector General. OIG as it’s known reports directly to the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners led by President, Dr. Erroll Southers. Current Inspector General Mark Smith is reportedly seeking an interview elsewhere, but Assistant Inspector General Florence Yu hosted the meeting alongside two investigators with the advocates. The head of OIG’s “Complaint Section” since November 2018, Yu is charged with overseeing “the Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation and adjudication of internal affairs investigations, and other areas relevant to police discipline.”

LAPD previously announced an internal affairs investigation in January 2024 after an alleged attack on well-known ex-Scientologist YouTuber Aaron Smith-Levin during a protest on Hollywood Boulevard against the Church, which critics term a “cult.” It’s unclear the full-scope of the investigation believed to be taking place. According to a copy of the presentation delivered by the advocates, their general goals are to: “Terminate the relationship between the LAPD and Scientology, “End the presence of children in Scientology,” “Eliminate all forms of abuse within Scientology,” and “Prevent further deaths associated with Scientology.” Critics allege that Scientology has not only corrupted the LAPD along with other law enforcement agencies, but engages in abusive practices that promote sexual violence, including against children, using the slogan “Kids Can’t Consent” to drive home the point.

Having stood now many hours outside the groups buildings, you truly start to wonder what goes on inside behind the covered windows. The man calling me after my hike in Malibu had no hesitation in making a threat against me, assuring me that “Scientology is a large and powerful organization” and that they really intended to sue me, offering me the chance to talk it over with them first. LAPD didn’t give me the chance to talk it over with them first before handcuffing me, and as the advocates note in their presentation to OIG, “It would be tragic if a lack of understanding during a police intervention led to excessive force being used against a protestor.” Further they note, and as I’ve personally observed, “Moreover, there is also a risk of injury to police or fire officers responding to fake calls.”

The non-organized protests may be controversial because of their confrontational, live streamed nature, but there’s no question that the response of the authorities here has been even more insane. Last Thursday, this included swatting involving a total of 9 LAFD fire and paramedic units to the Gelson’s Market for a fake structure call. As my investigation has suggested, these calls are in fact coordinated, and designed to intimidate and distract. When the call was made, there were only a total of 5 individuals present outside of La Poubelle, and yet again, there was no structure fire. The lack of prosecutions for these fake calls is alarming, and there are so many that even the advocates are having difficulty tracking the volume. Cost estimates range in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. We yelled at the firefighters, and they frowned back!

Koster herself might not be a Scientologist, the subject of debate, but her alliance with the Church of Scientology seems clear, documented in reports of her own behavior and on camera. Live streaming may be controversial, and essentially giving up your location to viewers might not be the wisest strategy, but at least for one night it worked. Trying to hide the culpability of Masterson, and even Koster may be one thing, but is the Church of Scientology overall responsible for the attacks against protestors and the swatting? Does their power and influence prevent prosecution for making false reports when otherwise any normal person would be punished? Supposedly these calls are untraceable, or something, but the lack of decisive action to put an end to the swatting, much less the stalking, or the alleged continuing abuses inside the Church of Scientology is suggestive as to its source.

Advocates allege that this is a nationwide strategy, and it’s true, elements have been seen in other cities where protests have occurred, but the fury, indeed the “serendipity” as one viewer wrote of watching Koster slide into that late night parking lot rendezvous is embarrassing. I’m not shocked that the Church of Scientology has now finally decided that I’ve gone too far, after all if I’m not there to be a little bit disruptive, then I haven’t really done a fruitful investigation. Nor has LAPD done enough to address the public safety issues around the protest, with a 6 point plan “to achieve our goals of ending the injustices within Scientology and its relationship with the LAPD” end capping with a request to have LAPD create training for “recognizing and sensitively handling cases involving victims of cults during all new recruit academies.” Further, this initiative “aims to equip officers with the necessary skills and awareness to effectively support and protect vulnerable individuals.”

With LAPD leadership in transition following the departure of controversial former LAPD Chief Michel Moore, who is alleged to have association with the Church, the ability to have LAPD effectively confront Scientology remains suspect. LAPD Media Relations responded that “We do not comment on IA investigations.” A spokeswoman for the Office of Inspector General replied: “the OIG is not at liberty to provide verification in response to case-specific inquiries such as yours” and noting that: “In certain instances, the OIG itself may conduct the ensuing investigation.” LAPD has been effectively corrupted remains a matter of dispute. Just how far down the rabbit hole the LAPD-Scientology connection goes remains unknown, but clearly the Church is a powerful source to be reckoned with in Los Angeles and beyond just as the “greeter” calling me had assured, and I’ll be curious to see in the end if they do come after me the same as others who have taken on the Church.

For many parishioners perhaps the Church of Scientology does work on some-level, but their ability to leave is in dispute with protestors and viewers alike seemingly waiting for escapees to leave the buildings on livestream. Scientology is believed to have only several tens of thousands of followers left, a claim the Church has disputed, maintaining membership in the millions. The hierarchical structure of the group, with a media and outreach apparatus directed by two management entities: The Church of Scientology International, the so-called “Mother Church” and the “Church of Spiritual Technology” which tends to the Hubbard estate, has only its internal “Sea Org” as its highest ranking membership entity in reference to Hubbard’s service in the U.S. Navy in World War II.

Perhaps, “Mark”, the Scientology caller threatening legal action on behalf of the Church of Scientology was a Sea Org member? Maybe people just like the nautical theme or the Tom Cruise image? One thing is for sure, the Church of Scientology means business in its ongoing war on critics. Just how much business back the protests have remains to be seen, even as viewership remains steady on the relatively few number of activists in both Hollywood and beyond taking to the streets. “The collective force of individual streamers, internet sleuths, advocates, and survivors has become a global force to reckon with,” says the advocates presentation to OIG, noting their view that “Despite Scientology's attempts to assert control, this community remains steadfast and resilient” alleging that, “It's clear that Scientology's delusion of "handling" the situation is futile.” I wasn’t so sure, Mark seemed confident telling me that they made “these types of calls from time-to-time.”

I pushed back, had the Church been responsible for the swatting of me in the Gelson’s parking lot the night before? He had no answer. The silence on the phone connection suddenly notable, whatever they might have had on me from late nights gone awry, one things for sure, the combination of the video-clip of Koster meeting “Cheeseburger,” the 9 fire truck swatting, and the injury sustained to my hand earlier in the week after an enraged patron at being filmed rose from a table and struck my hand before grabbing it in a crushing grip. I was okay, but the battle at La Poubelle in the Franklin Village district of Hollywood will go on Tuesday – Saturday until either the protestors are gone or somehow Koster goes out of business. Recently, she attempted to settle her temporary restraining order lawsuit against the “Defender of Ants” and activist William Gude “Scientology Audit (Streets LA).”

After the clip of Koster went public, Gude wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “Here is my offer: Close down La Poubelle. That’s it. That’s my offer.” Whether Koster who has owned the establishment for decades will ever accept that outcome remains unknown, but on a nightly basis protestors have remained into the early morning hours. After being swatted, I stayed too until almost 3:00 am as a dispute broke out between protestors before a black Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows passed through the parking lot seemingly surveilling us as part of what’s believed to be an escalating effort to intimidate protestors with recent multiple stalking incidents, one allegedly including multiple vehicles and the use of masks. Protesting anything can be controversial, but is protesting the Church of Scientology some kind of suicide mission? The night before the meeting “Cheeseburger” had passed me on the sidewalk winking and telling me that “I had a nice setup now” in reference to the phone and camera on top of my white Honda Civic under the streetlights.

What happens now that Francoise Koster has been exposed remains to be seen, but if investigative journalism has any true purpose, it’s to hold the powerful to account, and especially when they act dangerously with reckless disregard for civil rights much less the authorities. Whether it’s Rolling Stone or the Los Angeles Times covering it, what’s clear is that this story continues to have legs not because of Jessica Palmadessa, the social media influencer who made “Sebastian” the Scientology street recruiter go viral, much less Gude, but because of the insane reaction of Scientology to the protests. Red-bricked L. Ron Hubbard Way is perhaps the only street in Los Angeles with no parking permitted at all, and so it was that late one night in Hollywood, which I’ve discovered is the best time to actually see the Scientologists in the open in their uniforms, that once I again I spotted them crossing the street before hurriedly running inside the Blue Building complex, a former hospital turned alleged cult compound.

Breaking free of Scientology, much less countering their Fair Game tactics will take more than a bit of clever undercover journalism, or even long term investigation, but rather a willingness by the government to rebuke a special interest it’s grown cozy with in Los Angeles. Anyone else at this point would be getting prosecuted for the number of swatting calls, which are so voluminous it’s almost difficult to track. The overwhelming feeling of powerlessness, of being hopeless in the face of Scientology’s assaults against those it declared to be “Suppressive Persons,” SP’s for short takes comfort in the community of followers. The convergence of politics, investigations and media in this story makes it one worth sticking around, because in both its righteous and subversive qualities, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to expose a highly dangerous, alleged human and child trafficking cult using the technological power of social networks.

Link: My LAPD Swatting Experience Investigating Scientology

Link: SCIENTOLOGY Propaganda Tape - Protesters Crash Scientology Red Carpet Event

Link: Statement From The LAPD Regarding An Arrest In The Hollywood Area

Link: Scientology tried to ‘derail’ star’s rape trial by harassing prosecutor, suit says; church calls claim ‘false’

Link:  Organization of the Office of the Inspector General

Link: Scientology Is Looking Abroad for New Stars and Vulnerable Recruits

Link: Getting Assaulted by a La Poubelle Patron for Filming

Link: FilmThePoliceLA Twitter Post RE: Koster TRO

Link: How TikTok Accidentally Created a Scientology Heartthrob

Link: ‘There’s a war going on’: L.A. anti-Scientology protests bring arrests, attack allegations

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.