Peter Ramsay's Letter to Ron Sharp's Employer

Peter Ramsay
(Ramsay's address)

July 9, 1999

 

(to 3 executives at Ron's employer)

Re: Ron Sharp

Dear Sir,

     I am writing to you on a matter which is of some concern to me.

     I do have a specific reason for sending you this letter and that reason is somewhat in the nature of a complaint. However, I'm going to have to ask that you wade through a couple of pages before I get to my point.

     I have been, since 1972, a parishioner of the Toronto Church of Scientology.

     My faith is characterized, more often than no, as one of the "new" religions. It has been my experience that few of the people I meet know much about it. For that reason, I am sending a book on the subject.

     Approximately two years ago, a man named William Hagglund began to conduct a series of "demonstrations" against my church and my religion. Mr. Hagglund is usually accompanied by two other individuals during these exercises. However, it has been obvious from the beginning that Mr. Hagglund is their de facto "leader".

     Althuogh neither Mr. Hagglund nor any of his regular supporters has had any previous contact with my religion, they have adopted a manner of behaviour towards the subject and its practitioners which is, in my opinion, very bizarre and very antagonistic.

     For example, Mr. Hagglund, before venturing out on his first "demonstration", posted to the internet a statement which read, in part, that practitioners of my faith "should be dealt with as wolves used to be".

     Mr. Hagglund has styled himself as a "critic" of my church and my religion. I would be the first to state that Mr. Hagglund has the right to utter his opinions of my religion - even if those opinions are condemnatory. However, right from the beginning of his campaign he strayed from criticism to harassment.

     He and his followers have baited and verbally harassed both staff members and parishioners of my church. Children of parishioners and staff have also been harassed.

     On one occasion, Mr. Hagglund attempted to run infiltrators into one of our annual events.

     He and his crew have also surrepticiously taken photographs of staff members and parishioners of the local church, placed these on Mr. Hagglund's website and requested information about them. He has also pulled this same stunt with photographs of children of parishioners of my church.

     Additionally, officials of my church have had to deal with a bomb threat and an assault committed on one of our staff members. In my opinion, both of these incidents were the result of some of the inciteful literature which Mr. Hagglund had been handing out.

     Mr. Hagglund's actions and those of his supporters were so obviously harassive in intent that officials of my church were forced to hire a duty officer of the Metro Toronto Police to oversee his group during their "visits". The Toronto Hate Crimes Unit was also contacted and Mr. Hagglund was investigated and interviewed - the name of the investigating officer is Detective Kijewski.

     While he was not charged, his file remains "open" at the Hate Crimes Unit and this visit did prompt a marked change in his behaviour and the behaviour of his supporters - they have become much less aggressive and much less vociferous. Indeed, shortly thereafter, Mr. Hagglund took his website off-line, claiming that his house had been "hit by lightning". Unfortunately, he has put it back up earlier this year - in an altered form.

     I wish to add here that Mr. Hagglund impresses me as the type of individual who learns enough of the law so as to push things as far as he can without crossing the line into obvious criminality.

     Although nowadays we see Mr. Hagglund and his band, at most, once a month and then only in the warmer weather, he remains a matter of concern to me.

     I see a much darker side to Mr. Hagglund.

     There seems to be to be a proliferation, these days, of a type of group which has as its goal the wanton harassment, degradation and/or destruction of some chosen segment of society. I am sure that you can think of many examples - the media seems to be rife with reports of such.

     Unfortunately, we all too often hear of these groups only after one of more of its members has committed some senseless act of violence against its chosen "target".

     It is this very possibility that concerns me about Mr. Hagglund and his group.

     The actions of Mr. Hagglund and his friends, during his early "demonstrations", were very aggressive, as were their commentaries on the Internet. They seemed, to me, to be attempting to provoke some kind of untoward response from the members of my church.

     No such response has been forthcoming over a two year period.

     I fear that Mr. Hagglund or one of his followers may, out of mounting frustration, commit some act of violence.

     I can only state that this is a very real concern of mine.

     Accordingly, I am preparing, at my own expense, a multi-paged high-quality brochure for distribution to the home and business areas of Mr. Hagglund and his allies. The text will feature a summary of the harassment perpetrated by Mr. Hagglund's group. My commentary will be highlighted with quotations taken from their Internet postings - in this regard I have a wealth of material from which to choose.

     I also intend to publish their photographs, their home addresses, their occupations, the names of the companies for which they work and their business addresses.

     It is my assured belief that any person who takes the time to read my brochure will see Mr. Hagglund for exactly what I see him to be - a religious bigot, a purveyor of hatred and a lunatic.

     I would apply the same description to his supporters.

     It is also my hope that the sight of their own words and deeds in print and the knowledge that their neighbors and co-workers are also cognizant of those same words and deeds will prompt a "change of mind" and that they will go off in search of a less destructive and less unseemly "hobby".

     At least this is my hope.

     Thank you for bearing with me - I am finally getting to my point.

     Sometime in 1998, Mr. Hagglund attracted yet another follower to his ranks. This new recruit brought the number of his active supporters to three.

     This individual's name is Ron Sharp.

     Ron Sharp works for you.

     Like Mr. Hagglund, Mr. Sharp has had no prior contact with either my religion or my church. Yet he demonstrates what I would call an obsession with the subject. I find a record of no less than 875 postings to the Internet on the subject of my religion made by him - either under his own name or under the name of one of his two alter-egos, "Android Cat" and "Nicolai Malkiavelli".

     While I have not had the time to go through all of these, it is my guess that the majority, if not all of them would be highly critical of my religion, my church, its founder, its management, its scriptures and its parishioners.

     I have two complaints to bring against Mr. Sharp which I feel my be related to your business.

     On at least one occasion Mr. Sharp has posted this kind of material using the (Ron's employer) domain name. I have attached a complete copy of the printout of the posting. I would say that Mr. Sharp's commentary on these news items exemplifies his tone when discussing my religion.

     I do not know if Mr. Sharp is aware of the fact that Mr. Hagglund remains under investigation by the Toronto Hate Crimes Unit. He is most certainly unaware that his Internet postings are reguarly reviewed and, if found to contain hateful comments such as those featured in the attached posting, are printed off and forwarded to Detective Kijewski - this is, at least, my understanding.

     My complaint is plain and simple - I think it improper of Mr. Sharp to use the (Ron's employer) name and the company E-mail system while engaged in an activity of this nature.

     My second complaint is of a somewhat more serious nature. I have attached another Internet posting made by Mr. Sharp. here he is hiding behind his "nom de keyboard" of "Android Cat". You will see that I have had this posting edited and I would like to explain that.

     Certain scriptures of my church are confidential and may only be studied by a parishioner after that individual has demonstrated high ethical standards in all areas of his life and has undergone a thorough eligibility program. Mr. Hagglund and Mr. Sharp have obtained altered versions of some of our material and it is to this material that Mr. Sharp is referring. It is for this reason that I have edited the posting.

     The LED sign to which Mr. Sharp is referring is located over the front door entrance to my church. It scrolls quotations on various subjects from our founder's books which might be of interest to passersby.

     Mr. Sharp is proposing to hack into this sign and re-program it so that it will play his version of our confidential scriptures.

     I find this to be an excellent example of Mr. Sharp engaging in harassment all the while claiming to be a critic of my church. I can see no criticism in what he wants to do.

     Can you?

     I think, however, that there is an even more serious issue here. Mr. Sharp lays great claim to his expertise in computer and electronics technology. He has also avered, in one posting, that he is a skilled "hacker" and that he was honoured as such by being named in a list published by a Montreal newspaper.

     He is employed by a successful and expanding company. This company is recognized for its skills in computer technology both in its products and its service.

     Yet here one finds Mr. Sharp getting up in a public forum - one in which he can easily be identified - making a statement to the effect that he is considering (I would say threatening) committing a criminal act using those very same skills.

     I consider his statement to be singularly foolish, singularly unprofessional and singularly irresponsible.

     Perhaps Mr. Sharp thinks this is funny.

     I don't see the humour.

     Do you see the humour?

     It is up to you to decide if either of my complaints has any validity.

     Statements of Mr. Sharp's, such as I have given above, lead me to the belief that he is somewhat of an "unreal" person - one who lives in a world of his own making. My concerns about unprovoked violence extend to Mr. Sharp as well. This quote is from a July 1998 posting by Mr. Sharp. I believe that the subject under discussion is Mr. Sharp's concern about having his apartment broken into.

     "Guns should never be fired or even presented unless you are about to shoot somebody. That's why I keep a sword rather than a gun for self-defence. You have to really, really want to hurt someone before you hit them with a sword. You'll be unlikely to kill them in the first swing, they rarely come through into the next apartment."

     One might dismiss this type of comment as Internet bragadocio - I see it as indicative of a certain state of mind.

     I wrote to Mr. Sharp a little over a month ago. In my letter I gave him an ultimatum. I told him that if he did not cease harassing my fellow parishioners with Mr. Hagglund during his sporadic "demonstrations" and if he did not cease making derogatory comments about my religion on the Internet, then I intended to include him in my "educational campaign" on Mr. Hagglund and his activities.

     Mr. Sharp declined my offer. So be it.

     Specifically, I told Mr. Sharp that I intended to include a section on him in my brochure. His section will detail some of the statements he has made both on and off the Internet such as the ones I have referred to herein. I also intend to feature, along with Mr. Sharp's name and photograph, his address, his profession, the name of the company for which he works and his business address.

     I also told Mr. Sharp that I intended to distribute my brochure heavily to the areas of his residence and business.

     I mean to do this.

     Furthermore, I told Mr. Sharp that I would be procuring a public address phone number which would allow members of the public to hear the contents of my brochure on a recorded message. It is also my intention to have manufactured lawn signs which will feature the phone number, the faces of Mr. Hagglund and Mr. Sharp and their friends and the slogan "The Face of Religious Intolerance".

     I told Mr. Sharp that I also intended to distribute my lawn signs heavily in the areas of his residence and business.

     I mean to do this as well.

     Finally, I told Mr. Sharp that, if necessary, I would conduct my own demonstration on (Ron's employer's street) outside the offices of (Ron's employer) and hand out my brochure there.

     And, if necessary, I mean to do this too.

     (Ron's employer) - thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

     I would not be offended if you decided that much of what I have written did not concern you.

     I thought that I should at least bring this matter to your attention.

Sincerely,

 

Peter Ramsay