caption death_date death_place nationality birth_date known_for image article_title name
during an interview in '' scientology and me '' february 16 , 2008 clearwater , florida united states 1969 videographer and critic of church of scientology shawn lonsdale.png shawn lonsdale
 shawn lonsdale
shawn lonsdale

shawn lonsdale -lrb- 1969 -- february 16 , 2008 -rrb- was a videographer and prominent critic of the church of scientology .
he resided in clearwater , florida , and regularly videotaped members of scientology coming and going from church activities in clearwater .
lonsdale had initially intended to do a photography project on homeless people in clearwater , but after an experience at a city council meeting , he began to research scientology .
lonsdale got into an argument with a scientologist at the city council meeting , and the scientologist followed him home and the next day lonsdale observed a van waiting for two hours outside his home .
after researching the church of scientology on critical websites , he decided to expose information about the organization .
he established a website , and filmed video footage of scientologists going about activities in clearwater , and aired edited footage on a local public-access television cable tv station .
after getting into a physical altercation with a scientologist while filming , the scientologist was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery , but was later released and the charges were dropped .
the church of scientology hired private investigators and discovered a criminal record on lonsdale , and this was subsequently publicized by a scientologist on fliers and on a website .
lonsdale was subpoenaed by the church of scientology in 2006 , and they accused him of being affiliated with the lisa mcpherson trust , a group critical of scientology which was restricted in where it could protest in clearwater .
in 2007 , lonsdale appeared on the bbc `` panorama '' program `` scientology and me '' and was interviewed by journalist john sweeney .
later in the program , sweeney lost his temper and shouted at a scientology representative when he was accused of giving lonsdale a `` soft interview '' .
lonsdale died suddenly on february 16 , 2008 , and a clearwater police spokeswoman stated that the death appears to be due to suicide .
