DECLARATION OF GERRY ARMSTRONG
I, Gerry Armstrong, declare as follows:
1. I am a Canadian citizen and reside in Germany. I am an adult, and could competently
testify concerning all statements herein if called upon to do so.
2. I am making this declaration for the purpose of assisting in the investigation of an
incident involving Scientologist Mirko Otto that occurred on Sunday, January 19, 2003, and for
filing in civil legal proceedings.
3. Shortly after 9:00 a.m. on that date, Pastor Thomas Gandow, Mrs. Gandow and I left
their home by car for the purpose of driving to the Luisen Church in Berlin. Pastor Gandow and
I were scheduled to be in the Luisen Church for a service at 11:00 to give a talk on Scientology
that had previously been publicly announced.
4. Just before we left their home, the Gandows said that they had observed a vehicle
parked about one hundred meters away, the occupant of which had been watching and
photographing their house. At that time, both the Gandows and I were very alert to threatening
circumstances or this type of surveillance because of recent “ fair game” activities perpetrated
against us in Germany by the Scientology cult, including in their village.
5. “Fair game” is a basic philosophy, policy and practice of Scientology originated by its
founder L. Ron Hubbard. In one directive, Hubbard described “fair game” to be employed
against “enemies” as follows:
“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."
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In my observation and opinion, “fair game” is a criminal doctrine that calls for antisocial and
criminal actions, including violence, against people designated by Scientology to be “ enemies.”
6. I have been declared an “enemy” by Scientology and have been a target of its “fair
game” doctrine for over twenty-one years. Pastor Gandow has also been a “fair game” target of
Scientology for many years. Because of threats and “fair game” attacks by Scientology in the
United States and Canada, in 2002 I came to Germany where the organization is recognized as a
totalitarian cult with criminal tendencies, and where, as a result of this recognition, as I
understood, its “fair game” activities are greatly restricted. Considerable information and
documents concerning Scientology’s fair game attacks on me over many years is provided on my
website: http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/introduction.html
http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/cult/index.html
7. On about December 18, 2002, Scientology agents had distributed “black propaganda”
flyers attacking Pastor Gandow and me in Berlin, and on December 20, 2002, they had
distributed the same flyers throughout the village where the Gandows live. A true and correct
copy of this flyer is shown on my website:
http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/cult/black-pr-flier-December-2002.pdf
An English translation of the flyer is also on the site:
http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/cult/black-pr-flier-2002-12.html
8. “Black propaganda” or “black PR” is the term Scientology founder Hubbard instructed
his organization to use for its policy and practice of destroying a person’s reputation, credibility,
relationships, livelihood and life by widely and relentlessly spreading lies and defamatory
materials about the person. Scientology has published and disseminated a virtual mountain of
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“black PR” about me around the world. See, e.g.,
http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/cult/scientology-da-docs.html Similarly, Scientology
has published and disseminated a great quantity of “black PR” over many years attacking Pastor
Gandow.
9. In addition to distributing its “black PR flyer,” the Scientology cult also subjected the
Gandows and me to another “fair game” operation that terrorized the Gandows and greatly
contributed to the heightened awareness to threat which we had at the time of the January 19,
2003 incident. On December 21, 2002, a man came to the Gandows’ house where I had been
visiting and, according to Mrs. Gandow, told her that he had a “ gift” for me “from Lisa."
According to Mrs. Gandow, the man said that he had met "Lisa" on "chat," (an Internet “chat
group”) and that “Lisa” had asked him to deliver her " gift" to me. According to Mrs. Gandow,
he said that "Lisa" lives in Berlin, but he didn’t know her family name, and would not give his
own name. The "gift" was a small box in party wrapping paper, and weighed about 1/2 kg.
Attached to the "gift" was a handmade "card" addressed "Für Gerry, " with no signature, and no
indication of who sent them. See true and correct images of the “ gift” and card at:
http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/images/cult-gift-card2002.jpg
http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/images/card.jpg
Because of the circumstances of the delivery of this "gift," coming from an unknown source and
coinciding with the Scientology cult’s distribution of its “black PR” flyer in Berlin and in the
Gandows’ village, and because, being a long time target of the Scientology’s obsessive and
violent “fair game” hatred, I never open any package I am not expecting, I did not open this
“gift.” I knew, and know, no “Lisa” in Berlin, or anywhere. My belief is that the name "Lisa"
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was chosen to be a “reminder” to me of Lisa McPherson, and of her grisly death while being held
inside a Scientology compound in Florida in 1995. See, e.g.,
http://www.lisamcpherson.org/lisapics.htm and http://www.lisamcpherson.org/ The black ball on
the "Christmas card," I believe, is intended to convey the message that Scientology was able to
kill Lisa McPherson and get away with it, and that they can do the same with me any time or any
place they want. I surmised that the "gift" did not contain a bomb or a deadly substance like
anthrax, but was simply a device in a Scientology “psychological operation” to terrorize me, and
anyone who associates with me, nevertheless, I did not open it. The “ gift” had what I believe
was Scientology’s desired result, because the Gandows were extremely upset by the incident, it
caused great stress during the Christmas holiday period, and brought me to leave the area as soon
as was possible in order to reduce the threat from Scientology.
10. When the Gandows and I left their home on January 19 to drive to Berlin, I observed
that the car, dark blue in color, which was then parked in a position where its occupant could
watch us, did not immediately follow. Mrs. Gandow drove, Pastor Gandow sat in the front
passenger seat, and I sat in the back seat. We took some seldom-used dirt roads that the
Gandows knew to arrive at the autobahn, I watched out the rear window, and did not see the car
following.
11. Just as we entered the autobahn, however, we noticed that the car had somehow
arrived at the autobahn entrance a few moments after us and was also entering the autobahn
perhaps 200 meters behind us.
12. The car then sped up behind us very fast, and passed us on the left. I watched
through the rear window as the car approached, and then I turned to watch through the side
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window as the car passed. When I turned, I saw that the car was right along side us and the
driver was pointing a black and silver object at us, which, at first glance I thought was the barrel
of a pistol. I quickly determined, however, that the driver, a man, was actually pointing a
camera at us, and his passenger side window was up. The car appeared to slow down as it came
right along side, and then sped up again and passed us. Both the Gandows and I were shaken and
troubled by the car driver’s menacing actions. Nevertheless we had the presence of mind to note
down the car’s license plate number as it sped away, and we proceeded on the autobahn toward
Berlin.
13. A few minutes later, we noticed that the car had exited the autobahn at a rest stop.
As we passed, I observed the man standing outside his car, aiming a camera at us. Through the
rear of the Gandows’ car I observed the man track us with his camera, then hurriedly get back
into his car, re-enter the autobahn and again speed up behind us.
14. This time, as the car approached, I took my own camera, which I happened to be
carrying in a camera bag with me, and I managed to obtain one photo of the car as it passed on
our left. http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/images/otto-auto-2003-01-19.jpg
Because I was handling my camera, I did not observe if the man was again pointing his camera
at us as he passed, and my photo does not show the inside of his car clearly. The Gandows said
that the occupant of another car that passed us had also photographed us, but I was not watching
so did not observe this.
15. During this time, Pastor Gandow called the police by cell phone and advised them of
what was happening. Pastor Gandow said that we had been directed by the police to an autobahn
exit at a rest stop nearby, and we proceeded on to a police station at the rest stop where the
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Gandows made a report. Outside the police station as we arrived was the same dark blue car I
had observed follow and menace us on the autobahn, and sitting in the driver’s seat was the same
man I had earlier observed driving the car and aiming his camera at us.
16. To my knowledge, I had never seen the car driver, who was later identified as one
Mirko Otto, at any time prior to the above-described incident on January 19, 2003. I have had no
contact with anyone whom I knew to be a Scientologist in Brandenburg State, except for the
above-described contact with Mr. Otto. I do not know any Scientologists in Brandenburg State.
17. I do not know if Mr. Otto is a formally employed member of Scientology’s Office of
Special Affairs (“OSA”), which contains the organization’s intelligence bureau, but I have no
doubt whatsoever that he was acting as an agent for OSA while participating in the above-
described events on January 19. It is virtually impossible that Mr. Otto invented this “ operation”
himself, and acted alone, under his own direction and for his own purposes. If he was acting
pursuant to orders from Scientology, which he must have been, he was acting as an agent for
OSA. An Internet search that I made a day or so afterward revealed that the same Mirko Otto
who was acting for OSA in the January 19 incident also has a real estate company, “Mirko Otto
& Kollegen,” and maintains a web site on which he displays his own photograph. The image
portrayed on Mirko Otto’s website has the same likeness as the man I saw at the autobahn police
station on January 19 in connection with the above-described incident.
18. I have received and read a letter from known German OSA staff member Georg
Stoffel to Mr. Werner Schmidt at the newspaper “ Tagesspiegel” dated January 23, 2003 in which
Mr. Stoffel provides the organization’s “explanation” of the above-described incident of January
19 as follows:
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“A member of the Scientology Church was to ascertain the residence of Mr.
Armstrong for an attorney so that the lawyer could pursue legal steps for
outstanding charges, nothing more, since he did not seem to have any paperwork
anywhere. Everything else is in the category of a James Bond fantasy from Mr.
Gandow, including this member, who is being held responsible according to
internal church disciplinary procedures.”
I have webbed Mr. Stoffel’s letter here:
http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/cult/2003-01-23stoffel-ltr-tag.pdf
And I have webbed an English translation from which the above statement from Mr. Stoffel is
taken: http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/cult/2003-01-23stoffel-ltr-tag.html
19. This statement by Mr. Stoffel is blatantly false. Scientology’s lawyers have been
serving me with legal documents at my well known, public Berlin address, c/o Dialog Zentrum
Berlin, Heimat 27, D-14165 Berlin-Zehlendorf, since September 2002. My letter to
Scientology’s lawyer Andrew Wilson and the relevant court in which I provide this address for
service of legal papers is webbed here:
http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/writings/armstrong-ltr-wilson-2002-09- 02.html
Since September, 2002, and continuing to the present, I have received at that address many legal
documents from Scientology’s lawyers as well as from the court, and have not refused service of
any document at any time. See, e.g. the documents webbed here:
http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/legal/a7/index.html
Since Scientology’s lawyers know full well that they can send me their legal documents at the
Berlin address, and that I will accept them and respond to them, Mr. Otto’s acts of intimidation
on the autobahn were not for the purpose Mr. Stoffel claims. It is worth noting that since the
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January 19, 2003 incident, no lawyer from Scientology has sent me any document whatsoever
relating to the “outstanding charges” Mr. Stoffel mentions.
20. Mr. Stoffel’s assertion that the purpose for sending Mr. Otto on this operation was
“to ascertain [my] residence,” and “nothing more, ” is also belied by the actions of other
Scientology OSA agents, in addition to the actions of Mr. Otto. OSA’s agents would not have
distributed their “black PR” flyer, which is almost entirely an attack on me, in the Gandows’
village if the Scientologists did not know that I was at the Gandows during the Christmas holiday
period. The person, whose name appears at the bottom of the flyer indicating responsibility for
its publication, moreover, is Ute Erhardt, a known Scientology OSA agent. Nor would OSA
have concocted and carried out its “Christmas gift” operation to terrorize the Gandows and me at
the Gandows’ home if OSA’s agents did not know I was there. Finally, Mr. Otto’s menacing and
dangerous activities occurred on the autobahn to Berlin, many kilometers from the Gandows’
residence.
21. Mr. Stoffel’s statement that what Mr. Otto did in the above- described incident on
January 19 is a “James Bond fantasy from Mr. Gandow” is false, insulting and a veiled threat.
Pastor Gandow, although obviously alarmed and disturbed by Mr. Otto’s aggressive actions,
acted reasonably and safely. In calling the police, Pastor Gandow acted responsibly, and very
possibly prevented this incident from escalating into something even more frightening and
dangerous. Mrs. Gandow, although terrified as well by Mr. Otto’s actions, also acted safely and
responsibly, drove cautiously at all times, and did nothing to provoke Mr. Otto nor did anything
which could rationally be interpreted as part of a “James Bond fantasy.” If Mr. Stoffel was not
present, he has no facts and is lying. If Mr. Stoffel was present, perhaps in the second car during
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the above-described incident, then Mr. Stoffel, being an OSA staff member senior to Mr. Otto is
himself responsible for this irresponsible and criminal behavior. Mr. Stoffel’s false statement
about the January 19 incident is itself threatening because it signals that OSA and its agents are
still refusing to act responsibly, still relying on lies to cover and escape responsibility for their
antisocial and criminal actions, and will still engage in criminal actions that they believe their
lies and “black PR” will cover.
22. This is not the first time, nor the most threatening time, that I have been terrorized by
a Scientology agent on a freeway. In 1982, a Scientology agent terrorized my then wife and me,
by getting in front of our car on a California freeway and slamming on his brakes in what was a
clear attempt to involve us in a staged freeway “accident.” This Scientology agent then drove his
car along side us, coming into our lane, in an apparent attempt to frighten us into driving off the
freeway. This incident is mentioned in a decision against Scientology rendered in California
Superior Court in Los Angeles as a result of a trial in 1984. This decision, which became the
judgment in the case, and which was affirmed on appeal, states at page 14-15 of its appendix:
“After the within suit was filed on August 2, 1982, Defendant Armstrong was the
subject of harassment, including being followed and surveilled by individuals who
admitted employment by Plaintiff; being assaulted by one of these individuals;
being struck bodily by a car driven by one of these individuals; having two
attempts made by said individuals apparently to involve Defendant Armstrong in a
freeway automobile accident; having said individuals come onto Defendant
Armstrong's property, spy in his windows, create disturbances, and upset his
neighbors.”
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http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/legal/a1/breckenridge-decision.html
http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/legal/a1/breckenridge-decision.pdf
I was very conscious of this 1982 incident of freeway terror by Scientology’s agents, and that
they are fully capable of violence, throughout Mr. Otto’s January 19, 2003 autobahn operation. I
remain very conscious of the fact that even the 1984 judgment, which condemned “fair game”in
all its forms, did not cause Scientology to cease its violence and other criminal activities, and that
I am as much a “fair game” target and as much in physical danger from the cult’s agents as ever.
23. I am Scientology’s “fair game” target, and have been attacked pursuant to that
doctrine for twenty-one years, because, while inside the organization, I discovered a massive
criminal fraud, and because, after leaving the organization, I discovered another massive
criminal fraud, specifically Scientology’s fraudulent obtaining of its IRS tax exemption. As a result of my
discoveries, Scientology’s leaders and the cult’s OSA agents have formed an international
criminal conspiracy to silence me at any cost. Scientology has paid millions of dollars to
lawyers, private investigators and intelligence personnel to destroy me financially, socially and
psychologically. Scientology has tried many times to have me prosecuted criminally on false
evidence that the cult’s own agents manufactured, they assaulted me physically multiple times,
and threatened to assassinate me.
24. My opinion is that Mr. Otto’s actions on January 19 were part of a much larger OSA
fair game operation directed from OSA’s headquarters in the U.S. My opinion is that Mr. Otto’s
actions on that day were intended to further terrorize the Gandows and me, to get us to react in
some way that Scientology could use against us, and to create an incident to delay or prevent us
from arriving at the Luisen Church and participating in the service where Scientology’s antisocial
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and criminal activities would be discussed. I believe that the police becoming quickly involved,
including with an escort to the Church, disrupted OSA’s operation and forced Scientology for
that day to call off the operation. But as Mr. Stoffel’s January 23 letter shows, Scientology did
indeed use the incident, and even the police’s involvement, to further “black PR” and “fair game”
Pastor Gandow and me.
I declare under the penalty of perjury, according to the laws of Germany, Canada and the
United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed this fourth day of March, 2003 in Germany.
