Recovery Board  : RfM
Recovery from Mormonism (RfM) discussion forum. 
Go to Topic: PreviousNext
Go to: Forum ListMessage ListNew TopicSearchLog In
Posted by: T-Bone ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 03:58PM

FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. I PUT THIS TOGETHER BECAUSE I WANTED TO LEARN WHAT GANG STALKING IS. THIS IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

I wanted to see if what Mormons do during "love-bombing," "fellowshipping," or just trying to get members back could be considered gang stalking.

I am going to focus on Mormons on their way out.

First, what is gang-stalking? There are a few online definitions.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Gang-stalking
Stalking is "Criminal activity consisting of the repeated following and harassing of another person."

There are also a lot of conspiracy web sites and YouTube videos warning that we are all being stalked by intergalactic demons who want to steal our DNA. So I finally went to the source, Utah law.
Utah Criminal Code Title 76 Chapter 5 Section 105
A person is guilty of stalking who intentionally or knowingly engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person and knows or should know that the course of conduct would cause a reasonable person:
(a) to fear for the person's own safety or the safety of a third person; or
(b) to suffer other emotional distress.
http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE76/htm/76_05_010605.htm

The good news is that a person is guilty of stalking if they intentionally or knowingly violate a stalking injunction (known to most people as a restraining order). So if you get an injunction against somebody for stalking you, and they do it again, they are in big trouble.

There might be some defenses to stalking, such as "we miss you." However, according to one Utah criminal defense attorney's web site, "[I]t is not a defense under Utah's stalking statute that the defendant did not intend to cause the victim fear or other emotional distress." http://www.defenselawutah.com/CriminalDefense/DomesticViolence/Stalking.aspx#defenses
In the case of Mormons who have been asked to contact you, thinking that they are going to save your soul or bring you back to church, they don't need to be intentionally causing you fear or anxiety.

Another caveat the defense attorney’s web site mentions is that the stalker does not even need to be notified that you don't want to be contacted. However, my friendly advice to anybody who thinks they are being stalked is to write to the bishop and let him know you don't want to be contacted. It goes without saying, but mention that you don't want your minor children contacted. Use certified mail. He might complain that he can’t control ward members. We all know that’s false. In fact, he’s probably the one who set the ball in motion by telling the RS president and EQ president to send ward members out to see “how brother xyz is doing.”

According to this web site, the targeted individuals (TIs) “are regularly harassed by gangs of vigilante stalkers, often for revenge of speaking out."
http://www.exposegangstalking.com/summary
That fits the ex-mo profile. If you have been targeted because you spoke out against the Mormon Church, made a YouTube video, or have a web site about leaving Mormonism, I would contact law enforcement. The person contacting you could also be guilty of cyber-stalking, which seems to fold in with gang stalking.

As you see, gang stalking requires coordination. It can't just be a bunch of different people at church working to “bring straying members in to the fold.” So if there is a lesson on bringing members back, and you suddenly get contacted by several members working on their own within one week, it's not gang stalking. There was no coordination. The Mormon Church has an army of very sophisticated lawyers. I am sure they would never allow something to be included in the manual for Bishops that encourages gang stalking.

If you have been in meetings with the Bishop (I was the bishop's secretary when he discussed specific members with the EQ pres and RS pres), you see how even a simple desire to bring members back can turn in to gang stalking. Some bishops really do care about the members they have been charged with watching over. It can come across as creepy as some people just don't have social skills or they get overzealous. But lacking social skills does not necessarily rise to the level of gang stalking.

What happens after the bishop’s Sunday morning meeting? The RS pres and EQ pres go back to ward members and say, “OK, who knows brother xyz?” They find out who works with you, who your neighbors are, and who has kids in your children’s class. If they are just inviting you back to church, you’re going to have a very difficult time in Utah proving that they are stalking you.

So if the RS president asks a few members to contact you, you tell them you don't want to talk to them, then they send in the second string, and you tell them you don't want to be contacted, this is getting close to gang stalking. The best thing to do is tell that person who contacts you, “Please let the RS pres know that I don’t want to be contacted.”

If you are a people pleaser like me, you don’t want to hurt the other person’s feelings. How many times have I resented people who keep bugging me, who might have left me alone if I just set some boundaries? More often than I would like to admit. But please don’t think that the cause of gang stalking is our own people pleasing, which was instilled in us by parents and the Mormon church. (“Don’t allow a spirit of contention.”) Mormonism teaches people to be doormats. This is not the cause of gang stalking, but it allows it to go on longer than a reasonable person would allow. When we are leaving Mormonism, we might still feel guilty for converting people on our mission, for allowing our children to be brainwashed, or for a myriad of other things we did as members. As we gain our lives back, we learn to set healthy boundaries and we quit worrying about pleasing others. We find that people who need to be placated are actually a bottomless pit of approval-seeking behaviors. We can’t change them, but they eventually find other victims once they figure out we are not going to let them prey on us.

The problem I see is that if you have been a member of the Mormon Church, and you have been contacted by visiting teachers and home teachers before, and let them in, you have consented to contact. The best thing to do if you have let them in before but you don’t want them to visit again is to send that letter to the bishop. If you decide (for whatever reason) to remain on the rolls of the Mormon Church but don’t want to be contacted, let the bishop know. When I was in those meetings as his secretary, there were a few members who wanted to remain on the rolls, but did not want to be contacted. The bishop was not a fool. He told the RS and EQ presidents that the member was not to be contacted.

Judges and cops don’t seem eager to deal with stalkers. Much of the stalker’s behavior, taken one act at a time, is not illegal. Watching you at the mall is not illegal. Following you home from work is not illegal. Calling you during dinner time from in front of your house is not illegal. But if one person or a group is following a course of action (2 or more acts) that is making you uneasy, you just might be the target of gang stalking.

Since I have painted a rather bleak picture of any possibility of “getting” the Mormon Church for gang stalking you, I do want to add a few things that might work.

Send that letter to the bishop by certified mail. Document what his happening. Who contacted you? What time of day? How many times? Set up some video cameras around your home. Keep a camera handy. Be prepared to be told it’s all in your mind by family and friends. Be prepared to make several reports before you are taken seriously.

In the extreme, good documentation can help you follow the time line back to a bishop’s meeting where he told the RS pres and EQ pres to contact you. If you have sent a certified letter to that bishop, and he still has people contact you, then you have something.

Let me focus on the rogue members for a moment. Since I doubt a bishop would have members contact you after he receives a no-contact letter from you, let’s focus on what happens when members go rogue. Some members go way beyond what the Bishop would ask of them. They tell their children not to play with yours. Children lack judgment. Instead of just saying, "I can't play right now," and leaving it at that, they just might say, "We can't play with you because your parents are alcoholic devil worshippers."

If your animals end up dead after you repeatedly rebuff Mormon invitations, you just might have something. Hopefully, that never happens. It might just be your trees.

Gang stalking includes “acts in which the actor follows, monitors, observes, photographs, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about a person, or interferes with a person's property.” It can be somebody simply approaching you or confronting you. If a Mormon appears at your place of work, contacts your employer or co-workers, or contacts your family, you might be the target of gang stalking.

I realize that this is only a start. And there are probably a few things I left out. I would like to be able to devote much more attention to this topic. However, work and family obligations call. If there are any attorneys out there, or people who have experience with getting rid of stalkers, I gladly pass on the baton.

FINALLY, THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. I PUT THIS TOGETHER BECAUSE I WANTED TO LEARN WHAT GANG STALKING IS. THIS IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2012 04:03PM by T-Bone.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: Itzpapalotl ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 04:12PM

I didn't even know what gang stalking was until I read the original post on this subject months ago. After I started researching, I got a sick feeling and realized my experience had a definition.

I didn't post on it originally simply because I thought people would think I was off my rocker. It's not easy to discuss something like this and I've never brought it up with any shrink because I figured I moved on from this experience. There's also other circumstances surrounding this incident that make it easy for others to dismiss.

Honestly, I don't think it's something I can ever forget about. Doing something as benign as switching on the wrong light switch is a trigger for me and for years I couldn't handle the sound of those little ankle bells.

Yes, there are definitely paranoid people- many are mentally ill-that think the black helicopters are following them and are infected with tiny microphones, and so on...

Like Badgirl stated, there are organizations that engage in this behaviour.

Sociopathic criminals do as well. People who are heavy into the drug culture(especially meth) screw with their perceived enemies on a constant basis and they have no problems with twisting someone's head.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: xyz ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 04:26PM

Gay Ex-Mormon's recent experience with his former Bishop & Counselor ...

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,558981,558981#msg-558981

...could be categorized as gang-stalking? Just want to clarify how the term is applied.

:-)

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: snb ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 04:33PM

One aspect of gang stalking that I keep reading over and over is that there seems to be subtle pestering involved. Acts like seeing the same car over and over, or having multiple people staring at you at various times of the day.

I even read a story about gang stalking where the person claimed that the stalkers would throw rocks at the bedroom window every night at 4:00 am.

In the video I posted we see people monitoring the lady and even using hand signs.

I'm not sure that we need to include stuff like that in describing gang stalking, but it is probably a part of it in some way.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: BadGirl ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 06:32PM

staking out that woman's house. They do things like what we saw in the video. It creeped me out a bit because of the time someone stole an outboard off the back of a boat in our carport.
For weeks prior, I would arrive almost home and there would be a small car blocking the dirt lane that leads to our house.

The driver would act like he was on the cell phone or looking for a house, and was very slow to get out of the way. The first time it happened, I just thought the guy was lost or blabbing on the phone... The second time it happened, I knew something was up, and I drove straight at the car. The man spoke quickly on his cell phone and moved before I could hit him.

I knew he was trying to block my driveway but couldn't figure out why. A few nights later I was at home and thought I heard a sound like something dropping, coming from the garage (right next to the carport). It was weird because the cat heard it too. I opened the door to the garage and turned on the light. I couldn't see anyone inside our garage or through the windows in the dark carport. I went back inside and never heard anything else. A few days later, my DH discovered the outboard was missing.

So, some of this behavior could actually be a burglary ring... but I don't have all the details that this person experienced.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: Kinner ( )
Date: August 09, 2012 10:05AM

It gets much much worse. I had all Mormons surrounding me pretending to be a friend and get me back in their church after more than ten year absense. It eventually became obvious after my business of ten years was creatively dismantled from believing their gangstalking lies. Their "help" resulted in broken windows at my ten year clinic where thousands of retail I had just bought with that person was stollen. It was stated by her, a hair person my CIA drug $$ laundering person set me up to meet resulted in thousands in irreversable construction damage, methane poisoning (the husband left both toilets off without covering the phalanges) not to mention deliberate dumping of a custom granite and wraught iron workstation into the street.

NEVER TRUST A MORMON. Their own scripture entitles them to think its ok to ruin you if you are a threat to their Masonic banking cult. It gets so much worse. It is LITERAL RACKETEERING AND TREASON.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: Kilmer ( )
Date: August 09, 2012 10:14AM

Racketeering connections through Mormonism gets children stolen constantly from the nonmembers. A Mormon psych office my mother and I worked at covered up molestations, abuse and the church even paid for psych reports to take children away (think of the value of one person through the years, also possible damage). It all boils down to BIG MONEY and a front to look Christian when the temples are luciferian, ritualizing racketeering. Those symbols on the garments? Masonic square and compass. Why sport them on their nipples seems almost like Cabalist Jews mocking the stupid goy slaves...

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: Mia ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 04:47PM

When I left the church, one of the things included in my letter was that I was to never be the topic of discussion in a meeting of any kind. If I discovered I was, I would sue for defamation.

I also told the RSP and the Bishop that I didn't want to be discussed, turned into a project, or helped out by them in any way. I told them that PEC meetings disgusted me, and if it got back to me that I had been the topic of one, all hell would break loose.

I'm pretty sure they ignored that at first. However, I think they have now gotten the message loud and clear.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: WinksWinks ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 04:57PM

Oh so familiar, and I ain't talking about TSCC.

Thanks for the details, T-bone.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: Itzpapalotl ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 06:09PM

Yes, it's an ad for a book, but when I read the resoan this woman was gang stalked, my jaw dropped; Let's just say it felt very, very familiar.

http://www.overcomegroupstalking.com/three-things-to-not-do-if-you-are-going-through-a-group-stalking-experience/

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: BadGirl ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 06:55PM

First, the advice she gives is the OPPOSITE of the advice that should be given. She advises to ignore it and not talk about it.

Then, she advises people to watch the Will Smith video on her site. Will Smith is a Scientologist, and his delivery is typical in that video (which has nothing to do with group stalking, BTW).

I'm afraid this is another Scientology re-direction site. They also have a "cult watch" site. They create sites based on the same things THEY DO, to deflect attention from their own activities, and to pretend that they are the "good guys" trying to help people. Creepy.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: Itzpapalotl ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 07:43PM

Ah, yes. I'm not suprised. I didn't check any other links because I figured it was going to be spam or some other bullshit.

I too, found it odd that she said NOT to talk about it. Silence is dangerous in this kind of a situation.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: Rebeckah ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 08:21PM

They call their victim "fair game".

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: T-Bone ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 08:58PM

Itzpapalotl - that's the sickening part of stalking in any form. The victim starts to think they are the crazy one. Nobody would possibly drive by another person's house constantly. Who has that much free time? Nobody would take the time to break in another person's home and not steal anything. Right? Well, that's what we get for thinking like normal people. Stalkers aren't normal.

xyz - Dang, the bishop showed up even after the letter? Dumb dumb dumb dumb. I refer any questions on how to deal with Mormon stalkers/gang stalkers to Gay Ex-Mo. My hat is off to him. I will chime in on the debate about the child, too. If you take your child on a drug deal, and the child ends up in CPS custody, the parent is the one that f-ed up. These guys bought the child as a human shield (nobody would call the cops on us if we take a child). It seemed a bit hard core at first, but the "take a child when you commit a crime" analogy works for me.
ONCE AGAIN - I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE LEGAL ADVICE HERE.

With that out of the way...

snb, yes! It's very subtle. My friend's was stalked for years. The perp rented an apartment near the target's house. He called constantly, showed up on their sidewalk every day, and showed up everywhere she went. She couldn't date because the guy showed up everywhere she went. No guy could handle that. Imagine being asleep at 3 am, when a phone call comes from somebody you haven't seen in 2 years says, "I was just thinking about what a great time we had last night, and wanted to say hi." The worst thing is that the police would not prosecute because he never said anything threatening. It was always, "I care about you. I was just thinking about you." And he would say to her family, "Tell her hi for me."

He then went to all her friends and gave them a sob story. "She dumped me. Can you have her call me? I need to pay her back some money." So one by one, her friends called her, telling her to call him. How's that for sick? In the end, she was completely isolated.

She couldn't keep a job. She didn't get fired, but she couldn't work, so she left her job. In the end, she ended up staying in the parents' home in her bedroom, never going out, not having a life, fearing the ringing of the phone. This was before stalking laws had any teeth. Today, the constantly calling might be enough to have him thrown in the slammer.

The point is, the target ends up thinking they're the crazy one. And if the stalking goes on for any length of time, they can lose most of their normal lives. This poor girl couldn't date, couldn't keep a job, and couldn't even go out or answer the phone.

BadGirl - that's some pretty sick stuff. I guess if one lived in a high crime area (or just got burglarized a lot) it would be very similar to gang stalking. Going off on a different tangent, they say that children who grow up in high crime areas have symptoms similar to PTSD. "Boyz N Tha Hood" was a great example. The constant sound of people fighting in the background, the street noise, the helicopters, and the sirens is enough to make somebody crazy.

Rebeckah - I just read that for the first time today - Scientology calls people "fair game." Scary!!!

ONCE AGAIN, NOTHING IN THIS POST IS MEANT TO BE LEGAL ADVICE. THIS IS POSTED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: WinksWinks ( )
Date: July 10, 2012 09:27PM

I hate hate hate dealing with phone calls for exactly that kind of flying monkey crap. For years it was nothing but church people looking for me or some new kind of ex generated plot already in full swing.

Voice mail was made for me! Actually I've still got an elderly missionary lady on my voice mail. Still calling for me after 15 years since I last set foot in a chapel. Hmm, the ex did give up sooner. He must have found a new target around 8 years after I last saw him.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: FormerLatterClimber ( )
Date: July 11, 2012 01:55AM

My tbm father paid my neighbors to watch my comings and goings. I found that one out from my exmo sister. Unbeknownst to me he had the access to my voicemail and checked my messages regularly. He would disable my car, sometimes completely removing the battery. I took a job in the airlines 3000 miles away to get away from him. One day, I come home to my apartment and his business card was stuck in the door. Three thousand miles away! He turned out to be right there in a hotel in town. No call, no 'hey, how about if I come see you,' he just showed the fuck up. And then if that wasn't bad enough, when I returned to California an exmormon, my mother has systematically ripped my life to shreds. My life was about to suffer. I soon had a baby, a son. Their first grandchild. My mother saw a chance to hurt me and actually said to me that if I didn't raise him her way --mormon--that she would take him from me.

She used her puppet master strings to, sick my father on me in one particularly brutal attack where he nearly choked me to death as my son (who was only seven at the time) watched on screaming bloody murder. systematically character assassinated me. Then they used lies, half truths mixed with lies, whatever they could and perceiving that I would out them to the authorities, proceeded to take me to family court to take my son away. They had plenty of flying monkey members of the family write horrible lies about me. They won. Of course they did. They're loaded. I had to rebuild my life. I spent the next two years in bed. Mourning. I haven't seen my son in five years. After I was out of their way, they started in on my sister just this last year. She has become their "fair game." She attempted suicide a month and a half ago. And then her kids were taken. I don't wish the kind of despair I have experienced or seen on anyone, not even my worst enemy.

Sure it sounds unbelievable. But hey, it's unbelievable that a father would microwave his baby too, and we saw that in the news. These things really happen. Bad people exist. And there are probably some who are right here on this very forum who just want to get their sick thrills off of other people's suffering, well last time i checked this was still Recovery from Mormonism not the Power Exchange.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: WinksWinks ( )
Date: July 11, 2012 10:23AM

I am so sorry you know this sickness so well. :(
You are correct, they are on this board too. Some are more subtle than others, but familiarity with the MO highlights them.

1 in 25 is conservative because a lot of them are fairly good at camouflage. Not all of them have a good network to operate through, fortunately.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: T-Bone ( )
Date: July 13, 2012 05:47PM

Damn, that is one of the worst I have read, and it breaks my heart. I saw a wealthy Mormon family dismantle the life of their son's ex-wife. It is scary what people can do.

There was a guy at my office who became the subject of some gang stalking. The main perp convinced a new girl that the guy was a pervert, and she complained that he was making unwanted advances toward her.

People can be evil. When they do evil behind the mask of a "loving" religion, that is twice as evil in my book.

T-bone

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: FormerLatterClimber ( )
Date: July 13, 2012 05:59PM

T-Bone, the wealthy family who dismantled their son's ex-wife's life--was that in California? Because my parents have been doing this to my sociopathic brother's ex-wife simultaneously with my sister. I wonder if you know my family...

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: T-Bone ( )
Date: July 14, 2012 06:15PM

That was in Utah. The ex-husband's wealthy family paid him minimum wage to work for a family business, but he had an unlimited expense account and a company car. They also let him live in one of the rental properties they owned. Therefore, she was unable to show any income for purposes of child support or alimony.

The poor ex-wife was taking care of the children, living in a trailer court on the outskirts of town. Her car broke down, and she had no way to get in to town to the court house for the multiple hearings they dragged her through.

At the same time, she accused him and his father of sexually abusing the children, and the court has to take that seriously. So he was not able to see the children, and the grandpa was not able to see them either.

Not sure who was in the wrong, or if it was a 2 way street. But it sure was ugly.

T-Bone

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: FormerLatterClimber ( )
Date: July 13, 2012 06:56PM

I should add, there is life after escaping narcissists! The key is to go far away where none of them or their flying monkeys can find you, and go no contact. Not for holidays, not for birthdays, not even for funerals. No contact means no contact. Ever.

Since then, I have created my own family, I love the man in my life deeply, and we just had a daughter together ten months ago. She is absolutely an angel, a dream come true. And he has truly shown me what real love is...There will always be a hole in my heart where my son was ripped away, but, I do have hope that he will break away someday where I will be waiting with wide open arms.

Thanks Winks winks and T-Bone for acknowledging this suffering. Your validation truly has legs.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: downeast ( )
Date: July 14, 2012 12:09AM

I have been lucky, never technically stalked by any TBMs to speak of. I do have an estranged (and very strange) distant relative and a former colleague that both engage in behavior that would be considered stalking. They have caused plenty of emotional damage over the last several years. I have talked to a lawyer about a restraining order against one of them and am considering seeking one against the other person also. Surprisingly, both of these people are women. I would never have expected such big problems to come from the gender that is usually on the receiving end of this type of behavior.

I do not get the problem with not being able to leave other people alone.

Options: ReplyQuote
Posted by: Cheryl ( )
Date: August 09, 2012 10:31AM

I think it validates my claim that mormons do sometimes gang stalk exmos.

All of the mormons who harassed me for many years were total strangers and they did it after never being allowed inside my home and being told I wanted NO contact. This is a ward, stake, and state where I've never been active or attended meetings or mormon activities of any kind.

Options: ReplyQuote
Go to Topic: PreviousNext
Go to: Forum ListMessage ListNew TopicSearchLog In


Screen Name: 
Your Email (optional): 
Subject: 
Spam prevention:
Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically.
 **     **  ********  **    **  **     **  **     ** 
 **     **  **         **  **   ***   ***   **   **  
 **     **  **          ****    **** ****    ** **   
 **     **  ******       **     ** *** **     ***    
 **     **  **           **     **     **    ** **   
 **     **  **           **     **     **   **   **  
  *******   ********     **     **     **  **     **