"Boston Scientology: Sorry No Head on Pike for You"

The Suffolk County DA's office today dropped charges of criminal harassment against Gregg Housh, of the Greater Boston Area, related to protests outside the Church of Scientology's Boston headquarters.

However, a Boston Municipal Court judge continued for one year charges against Housh of disturbing an assembly of worship and disturbing the peace. The ruling means Housh has to stay away from the church's current headquarters and its planned new offices in the South End or the case could be brought to trial, according to the Suffolk County DA's office. In a statement, the office explained the decision to drop the criminal-harassment charge:

After a review of the evidence, prosecutors determined they could not meet their burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt on this charge [of criminal harassment] and could not in good faith move forward with it.

Had the case gone to trial, prosecutors would have introduced evidence and testimony to show that Housh and others entered the Church of Scientology's Beacon Street building in a boisterous manner during a March 1 protest, disturbing the proceedings and alarming those inside.

Critics say that the charge was brought on because Mr. Housh was the perveyor of the permits for the first Boston Protest. Scientology, by searching through public record, implicated him by stating he was harassing Scientologists. The ONLY reason he was brought up on charges was because he filed his name with the city in order to reserve public space on the Common for a gathering of Anonymous. This is a public filing and Scientology's lawyers used it to finally get a name of someone in Anonymous here in Boston. They then turned their full attention to him because he is the only person they had any information to go on. This case right here proves of Fair Game, which the church claims that it was dismissed 40 years ago, but its right here in the open. The policy was further extended in an October 1967 Policy Letter (HCOPL 18 Oct 67 Issue IV, Penalties for Lower Conditions), where

Fair Game is a law which is based in Scientology where Hubbard defined the "penalties" for an individual deemed to be in a "Condition of Enemy":

ENEMY - SP Order. Fair game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.

This lawsuit was the purpose in the form of harassment where the person getting sued, Mr. Housh, had to spend lots of money to just defend himself against a trumped up charge in a court room for months. Housh has endured 10 pre-trial dates for charges including harassment and disturbing the peace. Estimates of the cost of his defense is unknown at the time. However, since Boston Scientology took too long on a case where there was huge doubt, restitution can be in order for Mr. Housh. WBCN, a radio station in Boston, even made a 3 day series about Scientology during its most popular radio hours - the Toucher and Rich show. The radio show tapes prove in favor of Housh. Mr. Housh was unavaliable for comment at the time.