Minton accuses Scientologists of intimidation;
vows to continue financial campaign(12-21-97)
According to an article by Douglas Frantz of the New York Times, the war between the Church of Scientology and Robert S. Minton, FACTNet director and retired investment banker, is escalating.
Earlier this month, Minton's wife, Therese, found fliers with her husband's photograph on automobiles and trees in their Beacon Hill neighborhood. The caption under the photograph began: "The face of religious bigotry. Your neighbor Bob Mintonis not all that he seems."
Later, on the night of a birthday party for one of the Mintons' daughters, three members of the church picketed quietly outside their home handing out the same flier. That night, Minton was in Clearwater, Florida with 40 other anti-Scientologists commemorating the second anniversary of Lisa McPherson 's death. McPherson died while in the care of the Church of Scientology from a blood vessel blockage in her left lung caused by severe dehydration and bed rest.
Minton said he suspects that two men following his school-age daughters twice in October were church operatives, but he has no proof.
"I realize that these are the tactics that this church uses to try to intimidate people it can't control," Minton said. "They do not intimidate me. I'm not a total fool. But I'm not going to walk away either."
The church also has private investigators looking into Minton's past.
Church officials vehemently denied authorizing anyone to follow Minton's children, but they acknowledged picketing his house and using private investigators to dig into his background. They said both steps were legal and necessary.
The New York Times quoted Michael Rinder, a director of the Church of Scientology International as having said: "Sometimes it requires aggressive litigation and investigation to uncover the depths of the nefarious plots that have been attempted to destroy Scientology."
Milton became a dedicated enemy of the church after learning of what he considered its heavy-handed efforts to silence the critics, according to the Times article.
Rinder said that Minton has funded people whose intentions are to destroy the church. In a letter to Minton last month, a church lawyer demanded that he stop financing opponents of Scientology and warned that his actions were illegal.
After consulting his own lawyers, Minton said he was told that he had done nothing illegal. He said he remained determined to continue his financial campaign against the church.
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