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The Interesting Case of Keith Hensen
Feb. 5th, 2007 12:29 pmSource 1: 10 Zen Monkeys
Source 2: Wikipedia
Source 3: LA Times
I should first noted that the first source has a political agenda so bear that in mind when reading the article. The article, though is fascinating. Caveats on the Wikipedia entry go without saying. I'll paraphrase the story as best I can piece it together after extracting the conspiracy theory parts from the sparse news sources that have covered this story:
Keith Hensen was an Electrical Engineer who was picketing a local Scientology centre. He had been connected with Eric Drexler in his early days and was associated with the Transhumanist movement. His contrary days started with being fired from Burr-Brown (now Texas Instruments) for refusing to certify a piece of equipment that did not meet the minimum safety standards. He was also associated with Cryogenics, even received enough certification to perform surgery for the purposes of preparing a body for cryogenic storage. He probably most noted as one of the founders of the L5 Society that advocates colonization of space.
His problems began when he made jokes on a blog about "Tom Cruise Missiles" which lead to his being tried on a charge of terrorist activities. The charges were dropped, but he was sentenced to six months in prison on a misdemeaner of interfering with a church. He was also successfully sued for copyright infringement by the Church of Scientology and subsequently declared bankruptcy after a lengthy court battle followed by a $75,000 fine.
He decided to make a run for Canada just before his charges were issued in California, apparently convinced that the Scientologists would kill him if he went to prison. He lived in Toronto for 5 years, continuing to picket the local Scientology church who then informed the local police force that a person previously brought up on charges of terrorism was harassing their church. The SWAT team was called in, as would be expected in the case of a person suspected of being a terrorist in the post-9/11 world in which we live.
He then applied for political asylum from the Canadian government and was released pending a ruling. When the government did not rule in his favour, he ran back across the border and was eventually apprehended in Arizona. It's expected that he will be sent back to California where he will serve time for the more serious crime of evading arrest. He, and his wife, remain convinced that if he goes into prison in California he will be coming out feet first.
It will be interesting to see what happens next.
Source 2: Wikipedia
Source 3: LA Times
I should first noted that the first source has a political agenda so bear that in mind when reading the article. The article, though is fascinating. Caveats on the Wikipedia entry go without saying. I'll paraphrase the story as best I can piece it together after extracting the conspiracy theory parts from the sparse news sources that have covered this story:
Keith Hensen was an Electrical Engineer who was picketing a local Scientology centre. He had been connected with Eric Drexler in his early days and was associated with the Transhumanist movement. His contrary days started with being fired from Burr-Brown (now Texas Instruments) for refusing to certify a piece of equipment that did not meet the minimum safety standards. He was also associated with Cryogenics, even received enough certification to perform surgery for the purposes of preparing a body for cryogenic storage. He probably most noted as one of the founders of the L5 Society that advocates colonization of space.
His problems began when he made jokes on a blog about "Tom Cruise Missiles" which lead to his being tried on a charge of terrorist activities. The charges were dropped, but he was sentenced to six months in prison on a misdemeaner of interfering with a church. He was also successfully sued for copyright infringement by the Church of Scientology and subsequently declared bankruptcy after a lengthy court battle followed by a $75,000 fine.
He decided to make a run for Canada just before his charges were issued in California, apparently convinced that the Scientologists would kill him if he went to prison. He lived in Toronto for 5 years, continuing to picket the local Scientology church who then informed the local police force that a person previously brought up on charges of terrorism was harassing their church. The SWAT team was called in, as would be expected in the case of a person suspected of being a terrorist in the post-9/11 world in which we live.
He then applied for political asylum from the Canadian government and was released pending a ruling. When the government did not rule in his favour, he ran back across the border and was eventually apprehended in Arizona. It's expected that he will be sent back to California where he will serve time for the more serious crime of evading arrest. He, and his wife, remain convinced that if he goes into prison in California he will be coming out feet first.
It will be interesting to see what happens next.
