Declaration of Gerald Armstrong
1. I am making this declaration to bring to the Court’s attention activities in which L. Ron Hubbard, Mary Sue Hubbard and/or Scientology, hereafter referred to as LRH, MSH and Scientology respectively, are presently engaged relevant to the “Temporary Stay Order” granted by the Court and annexed hereto as Attachment A.1 It is hoped that this declaration will assist the Court in evaluating what is the actual intention of MSH and Scientology in seeking such a stay and the perverted use to which any order by the Court may be put.
2. The following narrative describes recent actions taken against my wife and me by LRH, MSH and/or Scientology. I remain convinced that these parties seek my destruction and are trying to frame me and drive me insane.
3. On June 21, 1984 I flew with my wife to London, England. The purpose of my trip was to testify in the English Court in a case involving the custody of two children. The solicitor who had originally requested me to testify and with whom I dealt while in London is Arthur Weir, Esq. of the firm of Tweedie and Prideaux.
4. A friend of mine had telephoned me prior to my going to London and informed me that Scientology knew of my trip and that the organization was planning an operation against me to occur while my wife and I were in London. Prior to our trip I alerted Mr. Weir and Julia Dragojevic, my attorney in the instant case, of this possible intelligence action. My wife and I decided to still go to London because we felt that not going would only allow Scientology to continue to control our lives by threat and
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intimidation.
5. I testified in the custody case on June 25 and on Tuesday, June 26, two incidents occurred which indicated to my wife and me that an operation of some sort was being carried out against us. At approximately 10:00 a.m. the receptionist of the hotel in which we were staying asked me to take a telephone call in reception. We were staying on the fifth floor and had no telephone in our room. I walked down to the first floor to take the call. The caller, a woman, simply confirmed that I was Gerry Armstrong and then hung up. I waited about fifteen minutes for a call back which didn’t come. I knew then that Scientology operatives had discovered and confirmed where my wife and I were staying in London. Later in the day we spotted a man on top of a building across the street from our hotel watching our room. I knew then that we were being surveilled but did not determine the purpose of the surveillance until the day of our departure from London.
6. I alerted Mr. Weir to the phone call and the surveillance but there was nothing else to be done at that time. The biggest effect caused was to make my wife’s and my stay in London worrisome and tense when it could have been pleasant.
7. On June 29 when my wife and I were checking in at London’s Heathrow airport for our return flight to the U.S., we were accosted by three men, one of whom called my name and thrust at me the Temporary Stay Order, Attachment A. It was then 11:20 a.m. Our plane was due to depart at 11:55 and was already boarding. There was no actual reason for the Temporary Stay Order to be served on me at the airport in London since it has
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for some time been the arrangement for any service of pleadings etc. to be made on my attorney of record in my stead. The only purpose of such service at that time and the harassment that followed would be an effort to make us miss our flight back to the U.S.
8. The man who did all the talking of the threesome was in his 40’s about 5′10″, very overweight and with an offensive odor. He identified himself as John Ingram, a private investigator. One of the other men was grey haired, probably in his 50’s also around 5′10″ and more distinguished looking than Ingram. The third man was probably in his early 20’s, about 5′5″ wearing a motorcycle jacket and carrying a helmet. My wife identified him as having followed us all the way from downtown London in the train to the airport. These two men would not give their names, but admitted that they worked for Ingram.
9. I had heard about Ingram on the previous Saturday from a former Scientologist, Jon Atack. Mr. Atack had told me that Ingram was retained by Scientology in the U.K. and had been involved in harassment of people who had split off from the organization. Ingram is not the same person as Eugene Ingram or Ingraham, another private investigator employed by Scientology in the U.S. to carry out their covert operations and harass individuals.
10. At Heathrow airport, Ingram was abusive and pushy. He and his cohorts followed my wife and I through the airport as we went through the check-in procedure. Ingram kept questioning me and accusing me about being in contempt of court and about an alleged meeting on Tuesday evening, June 26 at the Olde Cock
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Tavern in London. Ingram’s statements ran as follows: “Who did you meet at the Olde Cock Tavern2 on Tuesday evening?” “Who was the man you met at the Olde Cock Tavern?” “You’re in contempt of court.”
“Who did you give the sealed documents to?” “You violated the court order.” “You were seen giving the sealed documents to a bearded man on Tuesday evening in the Olde Cock Tavern.” “Who was the person you gave the sealed documents to?” “Two private investigators observed you on Tuesday evening in the Olde Cock Tavern giving the sealed documents to a bearded man, an Arab. You’re in violation of this court order. You’re in contempt of court.”
11. I told Ingram that he was (variously) mad, working for terrorists, a liar, harassive, trying to frame me, and full of fecal matter.
12. There is absolutely no truth to Ingram’s statements or accusations. I had no sealed documents in London, nor any way to obtain sealed documents. I had met no Arab in London. I had given no one any documents while in London except a copy of Judge Breckenridge’s intended Judgment3 and this to no bearded man, no Arab and nobody in the Olde Cock Tavern.
13. I had been in the Olde Cock Tavern restaurant on Monday, June 25 for lunch with my wife. This establishment is on Fleet Street, right across from the English Court where I was then testifying. When the Court broke for lunch my wife and I by
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chance ate at the Olde Cock Tavern. We ate alone and did not pass documents to anyone. On Tuesday evening, June 26, my wife and I, because we had had a good meal there the day before and because it is near the hotel where we were staying, decided to have dinner at the Olde Cock Tavern. Upon arriving in front of the establishment, however, we found a sign stating that the restaurant was closed except for a private party which had reserved it for the evening. We therefore did not enter the Olde Cock Tavern on Tuesday evening.
14. At a minimum the actions of these private investigators hired by LRH, MSH or Scientology are harassive and designed to intimidate my wife and me. More likely these actions are part of a larger plan to entrap or frame me and so bring about my destruction which these people seek. Entrapment and frame-ups are standard Scientology intelligence actions. Allegations of contempt of court are designed to break me financially by forcing me to defend myself legally. The actions of LRH, MSH and/or Scientology keep me convinced that I have no future after Scientology and that my life and my wife’s life are just as much in danger now that the case has been won as before the litigation began. LRH, MSH and Scientology are vindictive and will stop at nothing to get revenge.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed this 1st day of July, 1984 at Cost Mesa, California.
Notes
- Attachment A: Temporary Stay Order. This document in PDF format. ↩
- See Ye Olde Cock Tavern, Fleet Street – pub details. ↩
- See Breckenridge Decision. ↩