February 1990 Thelema Lodge Calendar/Newsletter  (March and April events)

Mailed free within 100 miles of San Francisco California

Copyright (c) O.T.O. and the Individual Authors, 1990 e.v.

  Limited license is hereby granted to reproduce this file without fee, with
this message intact.  This license expires February 1991 e.v. unless renewed
in writing.  No charge other than reproduction costs is permitted under this
license to the receivers of copies of this file without O.T.O. written
permission.


  Ordo Templi Orientis
  P.O. Box 2303
  Berkeley, CA  94702  USA

Temple Location: 588 63rd St.
                 Oakland, California
                 (Entrance in back, to the right)

Phones: Lodge/Temple:   (415) 655-4942
Messages Only:  (415) 454-5176

Compuserve: 72105,1351

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Raid Update

   The Berkeley Police Review Commission has been conducting interviews and
holding hearings since the last issue of the "Thelema Lodge Calendar".  A
partial determination has been rendered by the PRC in regard to one
complainant.  The Berkeley Police Review Commission makes internal
recommendations to the City regarding conduct of officers and complaints by
citizens.
   In the partial determinations (more pending after April), the Commission
found that insufficient evidence had been presented for direct religious
persecution to be sustained on a split 2 to 1 vote.  The dissenting opinion
was given at length.  The Commission did find that the affidavit (hence the
search warrant itself) and the performance of the search were tainted by
religious prejudice.  Certain of the charges brought by Brother S. against
officer conduct were examined, with verbal abuse and improper arrest being
sustained.  The greater part of the charges are still under hearing and
review.
   The sequence of events leading up to the raid:  A dispute between tenants
at 8th Street and the property immediately behind on 7th Street in Berkeley
degenerated into accusations and petty complaints to the BPD.  Most O.T.O.
member tenants at 8th Street were not involved, only non-O.T.O. tenants below
the main unit and a tenant in the detached cottage.  This dispute proceeded to
the point of restraining orders, harassment and varying abuses against persons
and property.  A former love relationship had broken up and a new one had been
formed, with considerable acrimony resulting over who had what rights of
access to property and privacy.  The landlord of both properties used
individuals from 7th street in dealing with maintenance and business on 8th
street.  An effort was made to improperly involve local O.T.O. in the matter
by a certain party or parties on 7th street; to wit, O.T.O. was amorphously
threatened with retribution if local O.T.O. leaders did not force the party in
the 8th street cottage to leave her home.  Local O.T.O. held that it could not
intervene without becoming libel to civil tort and gross impropriety.  The
situation degenerated further, resulting in building inspections and a rent
strike.  The building inspections determined that the cottage and the lower
units on 8th street were in numerous code violations, and the landlord's
capacity to rent those units without major renovation was challenged by the
City of Berkeley.  C., a renter on 7th Street, made a complaint to the
Berkeley PD about "missing wood".  C. has testified that she made extensive
comment about alleged drug use on the 8th street property, implicating O.T.O.
Documents of an unidentified nature belonging to O.T.O. were given at that
time to Officer Robles.  C. further testified that she alleged O.T.O. to be a
"Satanic" organization involved in abuse of minors.  Officer Robles testified
that he made a check on C.'s name and came up with no old charges.  Following
this episode, C. informed officer Robles that the landlord wanted to talk to
him.  C. also informed the landlord that officer Robles wanted to talk to him.
It is not clear whether either landlord or officer initiated these efforts at
contact.  The landlord expressed concern that he would have a legal liability
if he did not look into an allegation of drug use on his property, and he made
arrangements to admit officer Robles to the 8th street property.  Officer
Robles and another officer posed as plumbers at the instigation of the
landlord and gained entrance to the upper unit on 8th street without knowledge
of their identity by the tenants.  Officer Robles later testified that he read
"The Ultimate Evil" and "Satan Wants You" in an effort to research O.T.O.,
somehow missing the fact that the latter book attacks the former and dismisses
O.T.O. from involvement with "Satanism".  Using a copy of the "Thelema Lodge
Calendar" provided by C. (who is not on the mailing list for the TLC!) and his
other information, officer Robles sought and obtained a search warrant.  This
warrant was executed 9/29-30/89 e.v.
   That's the news and background in brief.  Now for highlights from the
interviews and sworn testimony.
   Officer Robles admitted giving an orientation talk to the other officers
participating in the raid.  This talk advised the officers that the raid was
on a possibly "Satanic" organization and that they should be prepared to enter
dwellings containing many dangerous weapons.  He also advised officers that
evidence of child sacrifice might be found.  Nothing of this was mentioned on
the search warrant (which focused on drugs).  Officers participating in the
raid gave varied testimony, some remarking that there are numerous comments
about "Satanism" during the raid and some not remembering any.  One officer
remarked that he just wandered about the rooms because they were "like a
museum."  Other officers made similar remarks.  Officers testified about
uncertainty in who arrested whom for what.  At least one officer admitted
signing an arrest sheet containing charges unknown to him --- this officer had
arrested one of the residents on 63rd Street in Oakland for failure to give a
true name.  One of these charges was "possession of an IV unit".  Officer
Robles testified that he had said "I.D. card" to a secretary and that he had
been misunderstood to have said "IV unit".  Hence one individual was arrested
and charged with failure to identify himself AND with possession of what later
turned out to be his I.D. card!  All persons arrested for being under the
influence of narcotics who gave urine samples had the lab report come back
clean, no narcotics.  Despite this, one officer adamantly insisted that he
never makes a mistake in determining such intoxication by eye examination.
The houses were video taped, and that taping was characterized by officer E.
to be complete filming of every room with emphasis, if any, on the evidence of
alleged crime.  Officer E. maintained that religious decorations and altars
were not singled out.  The video tape was shown during the PRC hearings.
According to witnesses at the hearings, this tape did not show any of the
alleged pipes, containers and other materials associated with drugs in the
charges later dismissed, or any other charges outside of pyrotechnic
(fireworks) chemicals owned by one person at 63th street not arrested during
the raid.  Witnesses to the tape viewing remarked that less than half of the
rooms were shown on the tape, and that nearly all the tape was comprised of
segments on books, religious paintings and religious articles.  The Police
Review Commission commented on the evident bias of the tape.
   There was a surprise witness.  C. came before the PRC and requested the
right to testify.  She admitted contacting officer Robles, but denied that she
had said anything about the O.T.O. members in the main unit at 8th Street
dealing, buying or distributing drugs.  She testified that she knew some
O.T.O. members were into drugs because she had sold cocaine to such people at
an unspecified time in the past.  C. stated that she had only been in the
upstairs unit on 8th street once since the residents had moved in --- by
crawling in a window to secretly observe a Vth Degree initiation with C.D.
She did not describe anything of the initiation, but C. never reached beyond
Ist degree O.T.O. membership before her resignation on 3/12/86 e.v. from
O.T.O. membership, according to Grand Lodge records (not made public unless a
public statement about them is made by the member/former member as in this
instance).  C. testified accurately regarding her Minerval (3/7/81 e.v.) and
Ist degree (9/25/82 e.v.) initiation dates, but she stated that her
resignation occurred about one year later than Grand Lodge records indicate.
C. made vague assertions that she possessed higher degrees and that her
crawling in to observe the Vth Degree initiations was at the instruction of an
unnamed IXth Degree, one year after her resignation from membership in O.T.O.
by her own account and two years by O.T.O. records made the day of her
resignation.  C. also stated that her words to officer Robles about an animal
sacrifice by O.T.O. were not by her actual witness but from hearsay.  She
capped this by the remarkable utterance that to kill a chicken or a Mexican
was equally murder in her eyes.  This reporter is thankful that officer
Robles, of Mexican birth, was out of the room when his star witness made that
statement to the PRC.  O.T.O. is proud of its many Hispanic members, and of
the wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds in its membership both
here and abroad.  The PRC determined that C. was not an adequate witness for
basing the raid, and one member of the commission advised the police to read
"Satanism in America" by Carlson and Larue (reviewed last year in the "TLC")
in preference to the works cited by Officer Robles.  C. expressed a desire to
have nothing to do with O.T.O., a view in perfect accord with O.T.O.'s own
wishes.  Unfortunately, the present legal business is likely to drag on for
quite a while
   Watch this space.  It's getting interesting again!

          --- Bill Heidrick, Treasure General of O.T.O. international.
                             Grand Treasure General of O.T.O. USA.
                             NOT Treasurer of Thelema Lodge

 (There seems to be some confusion about my Office, so will I take a moment to
clarify.  I do print and mail the "TLC", primarily at my own expense to give
service to the local O.T.O. Lodge.  I can't get the time to go over to the
East Bay much more than twice a month, owing to my Grand Lodge duties.   This
is my way of supporting Thelema Lodge, a place of many happy memories and
current friendships.  Thelema Lodge was the Grand Lodge of O.T.O. until early
1986 e.v. when Agape Grand Lodge was re-established with offices in New York
and California for general management of the national and international O.T.O.
Owing to my work with the Grand Lodge, I cannot participate as an officer on
the local level without conflicts of time and/or interest.  Usually I style
myself "TSG" for "Thus Spake the Gopher" in my writings for the "TLC" --- an
allusion to the wonderfully diverse and plentiful tasks the Grand Lodge
generously finds for me.)


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February 1990 Thelema Lodge Calendar/Newsletter  (March and April events)

Mailed free within 100 miles of San Francisco California

            Ordo Templi Orientis
            P.O. Box 2303
            Berkeley, CA  94702  USA

          Temple Location: 588 63rd St.
                           Oakland, California
                           (Entrance in back, to the right)

          Phones: Lodge/Temple:   (415) 655-4942

          Compuserve: 72105,1351


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