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David Miscavige (DM)

Church of Scientology leader.
Official information on David Miscavige from the Religious Technology Center.
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"The only person who runs the Church [of Scientology] and makes policy decisions is David Miscavige."

— Elliot Abelson, general counsel for the Church of Scientology, as quoted in the Daily Mail (January 5th, 2008): "Diana author names Tom Cruise as 'World Number Two in Scientology'"

  "[W]ithout warning [David Miscavige] punched me in the gut. 'I can smell Black PR a mile away,' he said. I tried to reply but it just came out as a croak, I couldn’t breathe."

— Jeff Hawkins in Counterfeit Dreams - My journey into and out of Scientology

Jeff Hawkins: "Scientology leader David Miscavige beats up staff members"

St. Petersburg Times (21 June 2009): "The Truth Rundown" Infinite Complacency (Dec 2008): "The Case against Miscavige" by Jonny Jacobsen
High-level defectors from Scientology are beginning to speak out about the movement’s leader, David Miscavige and the beatings they say he hands out to fellow executives.

Jeff Hawkins says he had no idea about David Miscavige’s violence until he was himself attacked for the first time in 2002 – and he had been working at the base for more than 10 years.

“People don’t say ‘Oh did you hear that Miscavige beat up so-and-so?’ – it is just not mentioned,” he said. It was only once he started attending regular meetings with Miscavige – or DM as he is known – that he says he found out the hard way. [...]

Glosslip Radio (April 25, 2008): "Marc Headley"

[Excerpt, starting at 6m 30s] Well, from the time I showed up at Golden Era Productions in 1990, I had been there maybe a few months when I saw David Miscavige physically beat somebody up. And that was in 1990. So it’s not like this just developed over the past five years, there’s a pattern going on.

All the way up until I left in 2005 I’d say that I saw David Miscavige physically strike somebody or slap as you say or punch in the face, I’d say I witnessed myself at least thirty different occasions, myself. And I heard from other people second hand many more instances that occurred. That was the turning point was for me. In late 2004 I was walking through the main factory facility with David Miscavige and I had made a smart-alec comment in response to one of his questions, apparently he’d not had a good day already and my comment was not well received and he proceeded to unload on me.

He punched me in the face at least ten times and my glasses fell off, I was thrown up against a desk unit, a counter top, and that was the moment right then when I realized I could go no further down than this, to be beaten by the leader of my so-called church.

[Hear the whole show at Glosslip Radio]

KROQ (April 4, 2008): "Kevin and Bean: Marc Headley" (MP3)

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[...] Radio show host: Why did you leave?

Marc Headley: After 15 years I saw stuff and I heard stuff I couldn't believe was happening. David Miscavige himself —

Radio show host: That's the guy that runs Scientology?

Marc Headley: That's the guy that runs Scientology, who is supposedly not the person who runs it because he is in a totally separate branch that's just supposed to police the trademarks, and the copyrights of Scientology, but he runs the day to day activities.

Radio show host: And there was just stuff you saw that convince you you didn't want to be a part of it?

Marc Headley: Yes, physical violence, like — literally mental and emotional torture, things that would blow your mind.

[Hear the whole show: MP3 @ Kevin and Bernie]

Radar (March 17, 2008): "Cult Friction" by John Cook
[...] [Jenna Miscavige Hill] has fond memories of her uncle David from her time at Gold Base. Her family often spent Christmas holidays with Miscavige, she says, and he would take her to movies and even once to a hockey game. Things changed when, at age 12, she was drafted into the Sea Org, an elite cadre of Scientology staff. Hill recalls, "I went to Clearwater to visit some friends, and they said, 'Here's your uniform. You're in the Sea Org.' After that, it wasn't the same. He wasn't my uncle anymore. He was Sir. He's like God there." [...]
Hawk Radio (March 6, 2008): "The Edge with Tom Smith: Jeff Hawkins"

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[22m 22s] [...] The first time I experienced that it was me. [David Miscavige] was becoming violent. [...] we are at a meeting, large meeting, it must have been 40 people there, and I had submitted a script for something. He didn't like at all, and began to make fun of me, and belittle me and threaten me as he usually does with people. And then pretty much without warning, he jumped up on top of the desk, and lunged himself at me across the desk, and battered my face repeatedly and knocked me onto the floor, tearing my shirt, and stormed out of the roof. [...]

Hawk Radio (January 2008): "The Edge with Tom Smith: Bruce Hines"

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[43m32s] [...] Suddenly I hear out in the hallway David Miscavige yelling quite loud, and he says, "Where is that ...", and he used a profane word, "M-F" word. [...] He is known for this type of language, you can ask anybody. [...] He sort of appears in the doorway of my office and he said, "There he is!", and he strode up to me and hit me on the side of the head. [...] It was enough force to knock me back. [...]

[Hear the whole show: MP3 @ Lermanet]

Andrew Morton (January 2008): "Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography" (p. 136-137)
Guy White, Hubbard's son-in-law, came in for this treatment one evening when Miscavige and others accused him of committing "crimes." Miscavige ripped the lanyards from his uniform, spat on him, and slapped his face...

Hawk Radio (November 2007): "The Edge with Tom Smith: Larry Brennan" @ The Wog Blog

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[14m55s] [...] It was a weekly demand in that time period in 82 where $40 million got funnelled. There was calls from Miscavige and his people every single week, "a million has got to go... half a million has got to go ... work out whatever the significance is..."

He has threatened to strangle people if they didn't do it. [...] I've seen him at the Church's international headquarter, I've seen him take a top WDC member and punch him hard in the mouth, another strangled down to the floor, another one slapped down, because they wouldn't listen to him and Hubbard. [...]

Evening Standard (London, Oct. 2006): "Tom's aliens target City's 'planetary rulers'" by David Cohen
I expect the evening to have something a spiritual dimension — after all, Scientology calls itself a religion — but what happens next is truly eye-opening.

Up front, David Miscavige is dramatically - and somewhat bizarrely - attacking psychiatrists, his words backed by clips from a Scientology-produced DVD are broadcast on four giant high-definition TV screens and sensationally called: Psychiatry — an industry of death."

"A woman is safer in a park at midnight than on a psychiatrist's couch," booms Miscavige, backed by savage graphics of psychiatrists - or "psychs" as he calls them - being machine-gunned out of existence.

Tom Cruise once publicly criticised a postnatally-depressed Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants, for which he later apologised, but I am now witnessing the raw dogma that lies behind his outburst.

As Miscavige begins to crescendo "our next step is eradicating psychiatry from this planet, we will triumph!" the audience rise as one, wildly clapping and cheering.

I look around, half expecting people to be rolling their eyes at this ridiculous, over-the-top message, but instead they're staring at the screens with a rapturous gaze, almost as if they are hypnotised. A few minutes later, Miscavige crescendos again, and, on cue, the audience rise to hail the chief.

St. Petersburg Times (1998): "The man behind Scientology" by Thomas C. Tobin and Robin D. Serne

When David Miscavige recounts his rise to power in the Church of Scientology -- a journey that began when he quit high school at age 16 -- it is mostly a story of war. War against renegade Scientologists. War against Scientology’s critics. War against its one-time arch enemy, the IRS.

ABC News (1992): "Scientology Leader Gave ABC News First-Ever Interview" [Video excerpt]

Ted Koppel, ABC News: [...] The Church of Scientology, for reasons that we will also be presenting, does not generally get a very favorable press. David Miscavige is described in one article as "ruthless, with a volatile temper," in another as being "so paranoid that he keeps plastic wrap over his glass of water." I was pleasantly surprised, then, when Mr. Miscavige first came to my office a few months back. He came alone, without any staff, and we had an amiable, if intense, conversation. I believe he even accepted a cup of coffee without plastic wrap. We'll let you make up your own mind about David Miscavige. We do have some things to tell you, however, about the Church of Scientology. Here is the first of two reports from Nightline correspondent Forrest Sawyer.

Time (1991): "Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power"

Scientology is now run by David Miscavige, 31, a high school dropout and second-generation church member. Defectors describe him as cunning, ruthless and so paranoid about perceived enemies that he kept plastic wrap over his glass of water. His obsession is to obtain credibility for Scientology in the 1990s.

Obsessed with security, church boss David Miscavige reportedly likes to shoot photos of perceived enemies with .45 automatic.

Calgary Herald (May 2, 1991): "Star fears church"

John Travolta is afraid to leave the Church of Scientology, this week's Time reports.

Based on interviews with former high-ranking church officials, the mag says the movie star fears that if he leaves the cult - after a 15-year association - it will go public with details of his sex life.

"He felt pretty intimidated about this getting out and told me so," says William Franks, a former Scientology board chairman.

"There were no outright threats made, but it was implicit. If you leave, they immediately start digging up everything."

Former Scientology security head Richard Aznaran said he heard church leader David Miscavige joke to staffers about alleged promiscuous gay behavior by Travolta.

Scientology officials refused to be interviewed on the matter and Travolta could not be reached for comment.

BBC Panorama (1987): "The Road to Total Freedom"

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Don Larson: "[...] David Miscavige comes up, grabs him by the tie and starts bashing him into the filing cabinet. And he's thrown out in the street; his tie is ripped off. Um, this is just a warm-up kind of bash. [...]"
Scientology cult: "Scientology's Dictator"
I was a highly-positioned staff member of the Church of Scientology for many years and most people would be shocked to discover the extent of my positive contributions. After some 25 years on staff, however, including a span of approximately 20 years in Scientology's international headquarters in Gilman Hot Springs, I decided to leave staff due to the unethical practices of David Miscavige, the leader of the Church. Specifically, Miscavige physically assaulted and violently battered four individuals in my presence, sending a strong message that anyone in the room was likely to be next.

The four assaults I witnessed were against Mike Rinder, Mark Yager, Guillaume Leserve and Ray Mithhoff (four of the highest-ranking officers of the Church of Scientology). In the case of Mike Rinder, he and I were standing shoulder to shoulder when Mike was attacked. Miscavige didn't like a minor edit that Mike had made to a video we were working on. Suddenly Miscavige just went off: he lunged, grabbed Mike's head with both hands and bashed his head into solid cherry-wood paneling three times putting his whole body into the effort. Mike has since departed from the Church. Violent physical abuse is just the tip of a dark iceberg. [...]

Wikipedia (as of Apr 2009): "David Miscavige"
David Miscavige (born April 30, 1960 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American religious figure as chairman of the board of Religious Technology Center (RTC), a corporation that controls the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology, and "holds the ultimate ecclesiastical authority regarding the standard and pure application of L. Ron Hubbard’s religious technologies."[2] RTC is a separate corporation from the Church of Scientology and Miscavige is officially described as "worldwide ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion."[3][4]

Miscavige was an assistant to Hubbard while a teenager, and rose to leadership positions within the organization by the early 1980s. He was named Chairman of the Board of RTC in 1987, some months after Hubbard's death.[5][6] Miscavige's position is paramount within current scientology but not the one once held by L. Ron Hubbard as the originator and founder.[7]

Among Scientologists, Miscavige is often referred to simply as his initials, "DM" or "C.O.B." for Chairman of the Board.[8] He reportedly lives at Scientology's Gold Base, which is also the main RTC headquarters, near Hemet, California.[9] [...]

Maisonneuve (Spring 2008): "Scientology's defier" by Bruce Livesey
[...] [Larry] Brennan, who left the church staff in 1984 and spent a total of $400,000 US on auditing courses, recalls [David] Miscavige having a particular enmity for [Gerry] Armstrong.

"He really hated Gerry, he recalls. Brennan says Miscavige would mock the now defected Armstrong in front of staff, using the most personal confessions of Armstrong's own auditing files to cast him in the worst possible light. [...]

John Peeler (July 2007): "What you should know about Scientology..."

[...] Yes, I have witnessed first-hand, DM [David Miscavige] beating the hell out of people. Specifically, during the WIS? Campaign, (What Is Scientology? Book), this was in the mid 90's, I saw DM beat up Marc Yager, who was the CO CMO Int at the time. DM was pissed at Yager because he hadn't followed orders and that the book was behind target, etc… DM grabbed him, tossed him around the room, punched him, shoved him, screamed at him the whole time and then threw Yager out of the PDO exit. That's Planetary Dissemination Org (the international marketing arm for Scientology), which is a division of Gold.

On another occasion, I witnessed DM beat the crap out of Jeff Hawkins, who was one of the executives in PDO. I saw Jeff get beat up on a couple of occasions by DM for missing targets, and not following orders, etc… Screaming always, in addition to Dave having an entourage of goons and assistants around him at all times. [...]

Marc Headley (February 2006): "Int Base horror stories"

[...] Well I have personally seen [David Miscavige] beat the living shit out of [Mike Rinder] at least 10 times over the course of a year. That was only the times I saw it. I can tell you that there were probably another 10X that behind closed doors. Other people that I have seen him punch/slap and or throw to the ground: Marc Yager, Mark Ingber, Ray Mitoff, Rick Cruzen, Jeff Hawkins, Jason Bennick, G. Lesevre. One time a girl from the Film Area was told to run Yager down in her car — and she complied — she drove after him and to get out of the way he jumped over a wall and broke his friggin ankle!!! I kid you not. This actually happened. [...]

Chuck Beatty (May 2006): "The Kobra on baby watch? News on Marty Rathbun and Warren McShane"

DM has beaten up (light physical abuse) too many people who HAVE gone public on the XSO chat group about what they saw and received, and those decades long trusted former Int staffers aren't bullshitting. (Ex Sea Org staff should do themselves a favor and get onto the XSO chat group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/XSO)

IAS Event (2004): Tom Cruise praising David Miscavige

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Tom Cruise: "I will tell you something. I have never met a more confident, a more intelligent, a more tolerant, a more compassionate being, aside what I've experienced from [L. Ron Hubbard], and I've met the leaders of leaders, ok, I've met them all. So I say to you Sir COB we are lucky to have you and thank you very much."

John Peeler (February 2001): "Members being held prisoner"

There are still members to this day being held prisoner in this location (located in Gilman Hot Springs, near Hemet, California). One girl who had been in this prison for over a year is possibly still there. One of the security guards told me that she would never be able to leave due to the fact that she had worked directly with David Miscavige in his office and "knows too much confidential information". She is a very small girl, not very strong, so for her to leave on her own would be nearly impossible.

Jesse Prince (August 1998): "Jesse Prince interviews – Tape 3"

J [Jesse Prince]: David Miscavige got upset with Marty because he wasn't following some order and took a stack of folders like this, hit him in the head, then physically grabbed him and started slamming him against the walls and punching him as hard as he could.

L [Lawrence Wollersheim]: Punching him, in the body?

J: Yeah, and in the face.

L: As hard as he could.

J: I’ve also seen him take women and throw them around. Terry Gamboa. Physically slam them into a wall. Marian Bender, another one. These women would come to me shaking and crying, like, "Oh God, somebody make him stop."

L: He physically assaulted women?

J: Yes.

L: Did he ever slap them other than throwing them up against the wall, hit them with a fist?

J: I think just throwing them up against the wall. Grabbed their ass, just anything to degrade them. ...

Chris Owen (1997): "David Miscavige's IAS speech, 8 October 1993"

If Miscavige is telling the truth, then the IRS's treatment of Scientology is indeed a scandal. But the sheer vehemence and range of Miscavige's tirade against the IRS, Interpol, the US Government, the media, the "squirrels", the hidden Suppressive Persons and the omnipresent "psychs" suggests that Miscavige is a body thetan short of a cluster, so to speak. His credibility and that of a Church which has repeatedly been shown to lie and exaggerate (for instance, in regard to the German government's actions against Scientology) cannot be considered high.

Affidavit  of Robert Vaughn Young (9 March 1994)

Despite Miscavige's protests, he runs all of Scientology, regardless of corporate lines. In Scientology, there is only Scientology. Corporate lines are set up as ways to deflect the courts, the IRS and the authorities. When it comes to everyday work, Miscavige is appraised of every part of Scientology, from the church to the secular. He also issues orders to all sectors and approves all major transactions. His role is as the head of Scientology is well known within Scientology. It is only when it comes to matters such as this suit that he and his lieutenants must suddenly conjure up the corporate lines and claim ignorance.

Affidavit of Stacy Brooks Young (9 March 1994)

170. My office was right across the hall so I heard everything that went on. For the next three and a half hours Miscavige screamed profanities and wild, paranoid accusations at Jim, demanding to know who had sent him to destroy Scientology, was he working for the IRS, was he working for the FBI, what other enemy agents were working with him inside Scientology, etc., etc., ad nausea. I heard Jim repeatedly deny the accusations, and Miscavige's response was to scream at him even more.

Affidavit of Hana Eltringham Whitfield (8 March 1994)

44f. What is also not seen in Exhibits 23, 24 and 25, is that the Mission Holder Conference was held in order to perpetrate an enormous financial fraud and scam on CSI and individual Mission Holders, and was done with the full knowledge and participation of Miscavige, others present as well as Hubbard as follows: (1) Through massive intimidation and coercion ("Fair Game"), the wealthy and independent Mission Holders were forced to pay huge sums of money through CSI to ASI; (2) ASI funneled the money through a Liberian shell corporation, Religious Research Foundation, and through Canada, into Hubbard's private bank accounts in Luxembourg and Lichtenstein; (3) During only part of 1982, over forty million dollars from the non-profit CSI was funneled through the for profit ASI into Hubbard's personal bank accounts, attached hereto as Exhibit 26, according to trial testimony of Homer Schomer in JULIE CHRISTOFFERSON TITCHBOURNE vs. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY, et al., pages 3609, 3611, 3614-3620, 3629-3630.

Affidavit of Vicki Aznaran (7 March 1994)

14. Contrary to the claims in his February 4, 1994, declaration Miscavige has struck staff members when they do things he dislikes.

In 1981, I witnessed him hitting John Axel [Correct spelling: John Aczel ref], a Sea Org member in the mouth in 1982. Miscavige had two other tall male staff members to back him up when he hit John Axel. This despite the fact that John Axel is a fairly small and very mild-mannered individual. Miscavige also does such things as set up photos of staff members who have fallen into disregard and use them as targets for pistol shooting.

I witnessed him doing this with the Golden Era Musicians, of which Fernando Gamboa was one of his targets. [...]

18. [...] After the baby died, Rinder asked to receive some time off to go to be with his wife and family.

When Miscavige was told of this, he responded that time off was "bullshit" and Rinder did not need time off, he just needed to work as his stats ("statistics") were down. Besides the baby would get another body and there was nothing to be so upset about. [...]

Affidavit of Andre Tabayoyon (5 March 1994)

52.  [...]  Mark Fisher, who was severely beaten by Miscavige, repeatedly told Miscavige and others that he did not want to be at the Hemet base.  As Miscavige and others beat Mark in my presence, Mark kept saying that his attackers could beat him all they wanted but he still wanted to leave.  Finally, Miscavige expressed his contempt and disgust at Mark and left the guard house where Mark was being held.

Affidavit of David Mayo (1 May 1987)

14. On August 29, 1982, David Miscavige, and others, acting on the orders of L. Ron Hubbard, kidnapped me and subsequently kept me captive and physically and mentally abused me for six months During this period, David Miscavige, an officer and director of RTC, told me in the presence of Vicki Aznaran, President of RTC, Mark Yaeger, Commanding Officer, CMO INT of CSI that if I ever escaped, he would personally see to it that the resources of the Church of Scientology would destroy my character and reputation internationally. During that six-month period of captivity, I was forced to run around a tree in the desert in temperatures of up to 110 degrees for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for 3 months I was under tremendous coercion and duress I was refused medical and dental treatment (after escaping captivity I lost six teeth and required thousands of dollars of dental work to save the rest of my teeth) I was not permitted to make or receive phone calls and all letters I wrote were read by Scientology security guards. I was often awakened during the night and interrogated (mainly by Jesse Prince). In early February 1983, I was told by Rick Aznaran, Director of Security, RTC, (husband of Vicki Aznaran, President of RTC), to get the idea of leaving out of my head because I would never leave the property alive.

Forbes (1986): "The prophet and profits of Scientology" by Richard Behar

The other move was to step up the flow of money dramatically. Among Larson's duties were levying fines on wealthy auditing subjects, whose intimate auditing sessions had been transcribed in writing, and forcibly dunning mission holders (franchisees) for millions of additional dollars for Hubbard agents. "In 1983," says Larson, "I manipulated a half-million-dollar inheritance out of Bob B... He was naive as hell. D.M. (David Miscavige) called me up in the middle of the night [about Bob B...] He wanted the money.