The video sorely lacks for detail (UPDATE: See below), but features three alleged Scientology "top managers" showering abuse on a former Scientologist at LAX. Why were they there? Why was he there? Why did he leave the church? We may never know. (Thanks, Melted_Crayons!)
More detail, from Tony Ortega:
Rathbun tells us that what we can't see is the terminal gate behind him, with about a hundred and fifty people waiting for a flight, and all of them gawking at what was unfolding in front of them.
"It's totally the Squirrel Busters," Rathbun says, and we have to agree it has the same bizarre quality as the intimidation squad of church members who called themselves Squirrel Busters and patrolled the Rathbun home, day after day, in the spring and summer of 2011.
"The setup was for me to shove or hit Yager, who was giving me this leering grin," Marty points out. As with the Squirrel Busters in Texas, the point is to get the person being harassed upset enough to take a punch — and then call in cops or file a legal complaint. "The thinking is, we're going to make you go off or make you cave into yourself. It was insane."
Unlike the Squirrel Busters, who were made up of little-known church members, Rathbun was confronted Sunday morning by some of the highest-ranking, well known figures in the Church of Scientology.
Marc Yager is a Watchdog Committee member and the "highest ecclesiastical officer" of the Church of Scientology International, Rathbun points out. And Jenny DeVocht — known for an infamous appearance on Anderson Cooper in 2010 — is close to Scientology leader David Miscavige.
"Jenny is closer to Miscavige than anybody," Rathbun says. "I'm willing to bet she doesn't even have a post title because she's literally his right arm."
But here's what really stuns us about this encounter — its timing. Right now, the Texas Third Court of Appeals is deliberating on whether to reverse the denial of the Church of Scientology's anti-SLAPP motion in Monique Rathbun's lawsuit for harassment — the same kind of harassment that her husband just experienced.
