- Project Normandy
Project Normandy is the code name for a top secret
Church of Scientology operation wherein the church documented its plans to take over the city ofClearwater, Florida by infiltrating government offices and media centers.cite news | author = Charles L. Stafford | coauthors = Bette Orsini | title = Scientology: An in-depth profile of a new force in Clearwater | url = http://www.antisectes.net/sp-times-scientology-special-report-pulitzer-price.pdf#page=3 | format = PDF, 905K | publisher =St. Petersburg Times | date =1980-01-09 [http://sptimes.com/2006/webspecials06/scientology/Scientology_Special_Report.pdf Original (huge)] (PDF, 18M), [http://www.sptimes.com/2007/webspecials07/special_reports/scientology/ 1980 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting] ]History
A 1977 FBI raid on Scientology headquarters uncovered internal Church of Scientology documents marked "Top Secret" that referred to their secret operation to take over Clearwater as "
Project Normandy ." The document itself states its purpose is "to obtain enough data on the Clearwater area to be able to determine what groups and individuals B1 will need to penetrate and handle in order to establish area control." The document says its "Major Target" is "To fully investigate the Clearwater city and county area so we can distinguish our friends from our enemies and handle as needed." [cite paper | title = SECRET POWER PROJECT : 3 NORMANDY Ref. GO Order 261175 LRH "POWER" Target 3 | date = 1975-12-05 | url = http://lisatrust.bogie.nl/scientology/normandy1.htm ]Gabe Cazares , who was the mayor of Clearwater at the time had made allegations that the city was being taken over. He even went as far as to use the term “the occupation of Clearwater.” On3 November 1979 , the "Clearwater Sun " ran an article with the headline "Scientologists plot city takeover" and later stories claimed that the Scientologists also had international plans totake over the world . [cite news | first = Richard | last=Leiby | title = Scientologists plot city takeover | url = http://www.moreaboutscientologycult.eu/usa/us-articles-clearwater-sun-1.pdf#page=26 | format = PDF scan, 1.9MB | publisher = Clearwater Sun | date =1979-11-03 ] The "St. Petersburg Times" even won aPulitzer Prize for one of their stories that exposed some of the criminal wrongdoings of the Church of Scientology. Cazares also noted that he found it odd that a religious group would resort to using code names for a project to take control of a town, and called the project a "paramilitary operation by a terrorist group." [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5704547942523554352&sourceid=docidfeed&hl=en Gabe Cazares video interview for a Clearwater historical society.] ]ee also
*
Gabe Cazares
*Operation Freakout
*Operation Snow White References
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