page_title: Gold Base
section_title: Demonstrations and controversy
hierarchical_section_title: Gold Base / History / Demonstrations and controversy
caption_attribution_description: Gilman Hot Springs Road near Hemet, CA - The largest group ever to protest at Scientology Gold Base begins to gather along with KESQ TV Palm Springs
context_page_description: Gold Base is the de facto international headquarters of the Church of Scientology, located north of San Jacinto, California, United States, about 100 miles from Los Angeles. The heavily guarded compound comprises about fifty buildings surrounded by high fences topped with blades and watched around the clock by patrols, cameras and motion detectors. The property is bisected by a public road, which is closely monitored by the Church with cameras recording passing traffic.
  The property had previously been a popular Inland Empire spa resort called Gilman Hot Springs, which was established in the 1890s. However, the resort went bankrupt in the late 1970s due to changes in American vacation habits. Secretly bought for cash in 1978 by Scientology, using the alias of the "Scottish Highland Quietude Club", it has since been developed and expanded considerably.
  Gold Base houses numerous Scientology organizations and subsidiaries, including its in-house media production division, Golden Era Productions, which has its own movie studio on the site. Scientology leader David Miscavige, senior church officials, and up to 1,000 of the church's elite Sea Org live and work on the base.
context_section_description: Anti-Scientology demonstrators began picketing Gold Base in 1997, prompting litigation from Scientology against one protester, Keith Henson. A Church bid to impose a temporary restraining order on Henson was overturned in February 1998 when Judge Stephen D. Cunnison of Riverside Superior Court ruled that Henson was legitimately exercising his right to free speech. He told Scientology's attorney, Kendrick Moxon: "You don't have a situation here where the defendant is stopping people. This is not an abortion clinic situation." Moxon complained that Henson's one-man demonstration was threatening the safety of Golden Era employees and motorists along the state highway. Henson was later convicted of a misdemeanor charge arising out of a demonstration at the base and was sentenced to 180 days in jail.
  Members of the hacktivist group Anonymous picketed Gold Base in November 2008. The demonstration was held outside the property but prompted clashes between Scientology guards and demonstrators which were recorded on video. As giant loudspeakers in the base broadcast noise to drown out the demonstrators, guards tackled one demonstrator to the ground and tripped another one with a leg sweep. They told Riverside County Sheriff's deputies that the first demonstrator had bitten one of them and that he was guilty of trespassing on private land. Scientology subsequently lobbied county authorities to ban the demonstrations. At a public hearing in December 2008 the Riverside County Supervisor, Jeff Stone, accused the protesters of "oppressing Jews, Christians and black people and encouraging youth suicide and terrorism." County supervisors approved a proposal, fast-tracked by Stone, to impose restrictions barring picketers from approaching within 300 feet (91 m) of a targeted residence.
  Stone did not disclose at the time that his political fund had received a $5,400 donation from the law firm that represented Scientology at the hearing, and another $600 from the head of the public relations department at Gold Base. After the donations were disclosed, he was fined $16,000 by the California Fair Political Practices Commission for failing to properly report $84,052 in contributions. The measure, known as Ordinance 884, was adopted in March 2009 but attracted controversy for what critics said were its unconstitutional restrictions on free speech. The distance was eventually reduced to 30 feet (9.1 m) and then to just 3 metres (9.8 ft) after county supervisors found that they had effectively banned their own existing practice of protesting against sex offenders living in the county.
  In 2009, Scientology officials began lobbying to close Gilman Springs Road, which is used by about 17,000 cars daily. The request was opposed "under any circumstances" by the San Jacinto City Council. Scientology subsequently backed a proposal to realign the road to go around the base, but a decision was put off indefinitely by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors after discussions in January 2011.
caption: Protesters outside Gold Base in January 2009
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