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Operation Freakout
Operation Freakout was the name given by the Church of Scientology to a covert plan to harass and intimidate Paulette Cooper, a journalist who had written a book critical of the church in 1971. Scientology's goal in Operation Freakout was to have Ms Cooper either imprisoned or committed to a mental institution. To accomplish they goals, they perpetrated a coordinated series of attacks on her personally and her reputation, which included mailing falsified bomb threats using her stationary to government offices and embassies, having PIs show up at her house at all hours of the night brandishing weapons, mailing multiple anonymous death threats, passing out pamphlets to her neighbors with made up lists of supposed crimes and perversions they had ascribed to Ms Cooper, and a variety of other truly horrific attempts to drive Ms Cooper to a complete nervous breakdown.
The Church of Scientology nearly succeeded in having Ms Cooper imprisoned for the bomb threats they had conjured up themselves, and for years they had systemmatically driven her to the brink of absolute mental, emotional, and physical collapse.
Their attempts would have been successful if another plan by the Church of Scientology hadn't come to light. On June 11, 1976, two Scientology agents - Michael Meisner and Gerald Bennett Wolfe - were caught in the act of committing attempted burglary at a courthouse in Washington, DC as a part of the church's Guardian's Office's ongoing Operation Snow White - the single largest infiltration of the United States Government by a civilian organization in US history. Subsequent to the FBI's investigations into Operation Snow White, on July 8, 1977, the FBI raided Scientology offices in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, seizing over 48,000 documents. In those documents the FBI found something they hadn't anticipated - countless church documents that detailed the entirety of their attempts to harass, intimidate, and ultimately frame Ms Cooper for the bomb threats that had led to her prosecution in court.
Thanks to the information gathered by the FBI, the charges against Paulette Cooper were dropped. Unfortunately, in the end no one was brought to justice for the harassment she endured. However, the wider campaign of criminal activity throughout Operation Snow White was prosecuted by the United States government and the majority of those involved in the planning and operation of Operation Freakout were tried and convicted. But not all of them.
Mary Sue Hubbard - L Ron Hubbard's wife - was set up to take the fall for Operation Snow White. For more information on Operation Snow White and the subsequent convictions, please click here.
Sadly, the harassment didn't end with the discovery of Operation Freakout. The Church of Scientology filed at least nineteen lawsuits against Ms Cooper throughout the 1970's and 80's, which she considered part of "a typical Scientology dirty-tricks campaign." Ms Cooper's attorney, Michael Flynn, said these suits were motivated by L. Ron Hubbard's declaration that the purpose of a lawsuit was to "harass and discourage." Ultimately in 1985, Ms Cooper discontinued the legal action she had taken to counter the church's lawsuits. After over 10 years of harassment, all she ever received in response to the horrific crimes committed against her was a $400,000 out-of-court settlement from the Church of Scientology. No one has been brought to justice for what she was forced to endure, and Scientology has never once apologized for the pain and anguish they put her through.
I would encourage each and every one of you to read Paulette Cooper's own words describing the horrors she was subjected to at the hands of the Church of Scientology. It's heart-breaking that such a thing could happen in our own country and that still to this day, justice has yet to be met. Ms Cooper's story is a true testament to the lengths Scientology has gone to in carrying out Hubbard's "Fair Game" policy. In my own opinion, it's also a chilling glimpse into the conscience - or lack their of - of this supposedly peaceful organization.
You can read Ms Cooper's article here.
Detailed Information & Additional Resources:
• Wikipedia: Operation Freakout
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