May 18, 2001 - Keith Henson

Gregg and I had to be in downtown Toronto today, so while we were there we put in a substantial picket. We had the first half hour by ourselves, out in front of the org doing a good business in handing our flyers,

After that we got our regular "handlers," Brian McPherson and Daffy Dan. I got Brian--who is without a doubt one of the most reasonable people they have ever put up against me. Sometimes it is hard to remember he is a scientologist.

Dan and Gregg were acting almost like old friends who just get off on arguing with each other. At one point when Brian was inside I went over to Dan and tried to get up close to him the way he and Gregg were always doing. No reaction, the guy just moved back. Gregg thinks Dan is nearly out of control, but I tend to think he is just playing a silly emotional game.

Brian and I talked for most of an hour. When he got there I dug out my pocket tape recorder and started it up so you readers could "be there." The many interruptions to hand out flyers are edited out and some false starts/overlapping conversation untangled.

Brian's first comment was about my refugee status in Canada.

Brian: Think you have a chance?

Keith: I'm not qualified to make a judgement like that, but my lawyer is. I posted on the Internet last night who I was with, Guidy Mamann,

Brian: Yeah, I saw that.

Keith: Yeah, that's right, you mentioned that you read alt.religion.scientology

Brian: You actually think you have a chance?

Keith: Well, my lawyer does.

Brian: Really?

Keith: I didn't have a clue. I came up here to picket you guys the other day, I didn't bring anything but two sets of clothes. It was only after I got up here that we said why not check it out.

It looks like it will be within a factor of 3-4 of Slatkin one way or the other.

Brian: Think so?

Keith: In terms of bad PR for the cult.

Brian: Why?

Keith: Oh it's a STORY man, Unites States being determined in a Canadian tribunal of violating the human right of one if its citizens?

Brian: That's true, if that takes off you're right (laughs)

Keith: and the French are going to go nuts on that.

Brian: But weren't you convicted of a criminal act?

Keith: Well, do you actually know what I was accused of doing?

Brian: You were going to send a missile into Hemet or something right

Keith: Yeah. Do you think I have a missile?

Brian: Ah (breaks up laughing) I don't know, Keith. The question I think is are you capable of manufacturing one.

Keith: Well . . . . .

Brian: Like I don't think anybody would ever consider I could put a missile into Hemet.

Keith: Well, truthfully I don't think anybody could.

Brian: Well, how could you get convicted?

Keith: Actually the thing I was convicted on, the thing which was the strongest that they had against me was something which was taken completely out of context. The thing which was taken out of context was an L. Ron Hubbard paraphrase, "destroy them utterly" which I put in quotes. It is the last line of the fair game policy, "if possible ruin him utterly."

Brian: This was attributed to you, you say?

Keith: Yeah it was attributed to me. So Hubbards words have declared to be a hate crime. but I was not permitted by the court because of the motions in Limine which limit the testimony. The judge on the basis of what the DA said that introducing any scientology beliefs or practices would so inflame the jury against scientology that there is no way they could win the case. So the judge agreed with him. And so I was unable to introduce any defense, no TR-L, none the stuff where people are paid for false testimony, none of that kind of stuff. And when it gets reviewed by a Canadian court they are going to say WTF??

(There was more like which wondered off into Brian trying to defend paid testimony where Brian claimed Vicky Azsuran's testimony was false and in various cases including the recent one where Wager paid Apodeca for false testimony against Graham Berry.)

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Keith: Did they tell you you were supposed to be afraid of me?

Brian: No. Why would I?

Keith Because all 750 people at gold base are officially afraid of me. That the only reason they manage to get the conviction was by convincing the jury that they were in a state of shaking terror over me.

Brian: (inaudible)

Keith: When they find out you have been walking right along side of me where I could whip out a cream pie and spat you in the face with it, they will be down on your case like a duck on a june bug.

Brian: Why would it affect me?

Keith: Because you are supposed to be terrified of me. By Ghod they have compared me to Timothy McVey!

Brian: Well, you have a history

Keith: What history? Who have I ever hurt?

Brain: I don't know. You've got a conviction on what? posting NOTs or whatever?

Keith: That was a civil thing.

Brian: Ok there is a civil one and then there is this thing. All I know is that you were found guilty and you are saying that you are not guilty. Except every guy in jail says he was not guilty too, he was framed.

Keith: Well, we will have a chance for a Canadian tribunal to decide whether I had a fair trial in Hemet or not, because they get to review it.

Brian: Why would they review the case?

Keith: Because they have to. I am applying for refugee status because my human rights have been violated. I am a escaped political prisoner of conscience because of what was done to me in Hemet California.

Brian: But the case was. . . . .OK

Keith: So that's my claim see.

Brian: Does it mater what the case is?

Keith: People have come up here escaping murder convictions for example.

Brian: Yeah.

Keith: And sometimes . . .the Bambi B. case . . . finally embarrassed the US government so bad that the cut a deal to take her back and run the case through the appeals court. I am generating an international incident.

Brian: (laughs)

Keith: It is unavoidable, unless scientology hires some bounty hunters to take me back to California. And if they did *that* would create an international incident. And they would look like complete idiots because it was a misdemeanor, not a felony.

(Conversation about bail--OR--drifted into the Picard bill.99%--mind manipulation--evolutionary psychology--hacker mentality--jargon file millionaires in scientology and how many Slatkin took the cleaner religions--Zen Druids--Memes. Mind manipulation and how to determination it. Aum killing people Lisa McPherson, Jone Wood, Ashlee Shaner, Golden Era, (*), DM in a casino, the deposition of DM, and his public buggering rant.)

After about an hour of this, Gregg and I went off for some lunch, but decided to just go home before the traffic got bad. We had a car follow uis most of the way back.

Keith Henson
Political prisoner of conscience