Organized Gang Stalking - The Watcher

American private investigator David Lawson spent approximately 12 years
investigating stalking groups in the United States and Canada, mainly in the
1990s. He wrote about his experiences “riding with” these networked community
harassment groups in two books.

The first, released in 2001, was:

Terrorist Stalking in America
ISBN: 0-9703092-0-1

That book is now out of print. Lawson then produced an updated book
on the same subject in March 2007:

Cause Stalking
ISBN-13: 978-0-9703092-3-5

While group harassment in the workplace is fairly common, and well
documented in this book:

Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace
By Dr. Noa
Davenport, Ruth Distler Schwartz, Gail Pursell Elliott
Copyright 1999
ISBN
0-9671803-0-9

… the community-based counterpart, organized stalking, is not well
known to the average member of the public. This paper is to share some of David
Lawson’s findings so the reader can begin to grasp what appears to be a
relatively new type of crime. So new, in fact, that targets of organized
stalking have great difficulty getting law enforcement officials to take it
seriously.

Before sharing David Lawson’s findings, it should be pointed out that
Lawson’s books contain two types of information: his observations, and
his conclusions.

David Lawson’s observations of the activities of the community organized
stalking groups are a perfect match for the types of harassment reported by
organized stalking targets. However, Lawson’s conclusions as to who is mainly
responsible are puzzling to targets who have read his books.

David Lawson claims that foreign terrorists and “anti-government” groups are
responsible for the growing organized stalking crimes. Very few targets of
organized stalking see evidence that Lawson’s conclusions match the targets’
experience. Lawson may have discovered those groups operating when he rode with
the harassment groups, but anyone interested in finding the backers of local
harassment groups would do well to suspend judgement on Lawson’s conclusions.

Right up front, targets of organized stalking report that LIES circulated
about the targets are what fuel local hatred for the targets. One of the
favourite lies being circulated is that the target is a child molester. This is
routinely used against female targets as well as targeted men.

Other lies are that the target has a serious criminal record, or is into the
drug trade, or is a prostitute. So for those reading this paper who aren’t
familiar with organized stalking, keep in mind that the obvious answer to “Why
would people harass targets who are nobodies?” … is that once lies are
circulated that the target is a major criminal, that target is no longer a
“nobody.”

As to why certain people are chosen as targets, targets’ reports show that
whistleblowers and activists are sometimes subjected to organized stalking as
“punishment” for their activities. Other cases occur when a target is in line
for a large inheritance, or has turned in a well-connected spouse for criminal
activity such as pedophilia, or sometimes the target just “ticked off” someone
who is well-connected to groups willing to do organized stalking.

According to David Lawson, some targets are simply chosen for ‘practice.’

Here below are selected quotes from both of David Lawson’s books, starting
with a “Concepts Table” for quick-click access to relevant sections:

Police
awareness of organized stalkers

How David
Lawson got involved

Characteristics of
stalker recruits

Quotes from the
stalkers

Stalker
motivation statistics

Involvement
of firemen and police

Stalkers’ attitude
towards their cause

Stalking group
leaders

Stalking group
finances

Distinction,
initial reasons vs. ongoing reasons

Lawson’s
targeted group list

Sampling of
stalking operations

Perps use
adjacent apartments

Synchronized
sounds

Stalkers entry
into targets’ homes

Failure to
recognize organized stalking

Vehicular
harassment

Harassment on
foot

Destruction
of relationships

Noise
campaigns

Synchronized
movements (apartments)

Synchronized
leaving home

Conclusion

SELECTED QUOTES:

Quotes are from David Lawson’s currently available book “Cause Stalking”
except where noted from his original book, “Terrorist Stalking in America.”

Author David Lawson did interview perpetrators, (“perps”), targetted people
(“targets”), and the police. Here is what the author heard from the police he
interviewed:

[pg 79] “I also spoke with a few police officers from across the
country. They confirmed the existence of stalking groups across the country.
In general, they said that ‘cause stalking’ is primarily a civil problem where
the plaintiff has to prove financial loss. They also said that there are free
speech and grass roots issues involved. In fact, the police themselves are
targets of these groups. In small towns, the number of members in these groups
can easily exceed the number of police officers. In general, the police will
not talk about stalking groups. One officer did say there is a storm brewing
as groups become larger and more numerous.”


Author Lawson explains here how he got involved and
began to interact with the ‘cause stalking’ perpetrators:

“One day, several years ago, I was sitting in my house, and
checking out the activity on my scanner. I heard a woman say that she was
following a certain vehicle. She gave the location, the make and model of the
car and the license plate number. A few days later, I heard the same woman on
the same frequency (84) request backup at a certain location. A few days after
that I again heard her broadcasting the position and details about another
vehicle she was following. I listened to other people talking on that
frequency and they didn’t give any indication that they were with any
government agency but they were talking about arresting people.
On another occasion, on the same business band frequency, I heard someone
complain that an African American man was crossing the street. “All we could
get him for is jaywalking” responded the leader. “Leave him for the police.”

People in the group would discuss where they would go for supper, after
their shift was over, so I [the author] went too. I listened to a group of
people openly discussing various activities as if they were the police.

Real police officers were also sitting in the restaurant, listening to
them. I later learned that their presence was not a coincidence.

One man who had supper with the group drove a van marked with the call
letters of a local AM radio station. I started listening to it. Most of the
guests were people who said they had new revelations about Waco or Ruby Ridge,
or had some inside story about government corruption. It is called hate radio.
I also heard advertisements for the meetings of a local political group and I
attended some.

“At the first meeting I attended, one young man flashed a phony police
badge at me. No one paid any attention. Some of those in attendance were the
people I had seen in the local restaurant. This was my introduction to the
creepy world of anti-government extremists.”

David Lawson goes
on to explain that he has observed “extremist groups” for several years while
living in New York State, Florida, and Canada. He monitored the stalking groups’
public communications, attended meetings, and rode with them.

The author defines the basic reason for being for these citizen stalking
groups as CAUSE STALKING. Cause stalking means the group is assembled, under a
leader with a “shadowy past”, for some specific cause.
“Cause stalking has been used by extremist groups since the early
1990s. The basic system is alleged to have been developed by the Ku Klux Klan
and refined through years of use.”

Some details about the typical cause stalking recruit:

“Recruits tend to be blue collar workers who are at the bottom end
of the job scale. They are janitors in apartments, hotels, etc., who have keys
to get in any locked doors. They are security guards, who can let fellow
members into places where they would not normally be allowed to go. They are
city workers, who can, in many cities, follow a target around all day in their
vehicles or have a noisy project underway near his [target’s] residence. They
are taxi drivers, who are a network that is always on the road. They are
cable, telephone and electric company employees who can interfere with a
target’s service and spend time on patrol with the group, while they are on
the job.”
Those are the author’s words. Here are
a few quotes from the perpetrators themselves, from the original book:
[From Terrorist Stalking in America] “We are like the police
except we are ABOVE the police.”
[From Terrorist Stalking in America] “We are a citizen’s group that helps
the police. We are trying to alert people in the area about this person [the
target] before he gets to do what he did in the last place he lived.” [Eleanor
White talking: All the cause stalking targets I know well did not commit ANY
offenses. The stalkers are filled with LIES by their leaders.]

[From Terrorist Stalking in America] “When I get the call, I go to whatever
the address is. It doesn’t matter what they [targets] do, they can never get
away from us.”

[From Terrorist Stalking in America] “Who are we? We drive the ambulances
that take you to the emergency room. When your house is burning, we put out
the fire. We are security guards. We protect you at night. You only have
electricity, phone and cable service because of us. We are janitors. We have
the keys. We fix your cars. You don’t want to mess with us.”

In “Cause Stalking”, David Lawson provides some details
about the motivations of stalking group members not in the first book:

– 25% follow the nominal “cause” they were recruited under

25% actually participate in the harassment
– 75% harass occasionally or not
at all
– 10% join out of fear of being harassed
themselves

That 10% joining out of fear of harassment is quite
interesting, as one of the most difficult barriers to educating the general
public about organized stalking is why anyone would volunteer to harass others.

Lawson describes recruits to these groups as “… those who feel powerless,
inferior and angry.” Common sense is that naturally, such people would be easy
to recruit for street and adjacent to the target’s home harassment, but I would
comment that lots of professionals put us (targets) down at every opportunity,
declaring us mentally ill for even suggesting organized stalking is possible.
These professionals don’t “feel powerless, inferior, and angry.”

And I doubt the many utility and city employees who participate feel
“powerless, inferior, and angry” either. So while David Lawson has done a great
job, some aspects of organized stalking have apparently escaped him.

One comment Lawson makes is that “Firemen across the
country, and even some police officers, support these groups.”

I have heard a number of reports that vehicular harassment has involved an
above average number of vehicles that bear stickers of firefighters, or, a few
targets have traced perpetrator identities to firemen. One target discovered
that a number of vehicular harassment cars, identified by licence number, were
parked in a police station parking lot.

My personal take on why some firemen and police might back these groups is
that many have a heightened sense of community service. If they can be persuaded
that the target has a criminal record, the worst case being that of a pedophile,
it would be natural for firefighters and police to “help keep the target in
line”.

The author concludes, as explained at a number of places in the
book, that the “cause” the typical group is “working toward” is mainly an excuse
to get the groups together. The main motivation of members who stay with these
groups is the sense of power and belonging the group members derive. Having a
“cause” enhances the feelings of power and righteousness, but group members,
according to the author, are most concerned with how their fellow group stalkers
feel about their “work” and accept them.

Lawson explains the attitude of the typical stalking group member towards the
“cause” this way:

“Most active group members have only a general idea of the
ideology of the group but they don’t particularly care.”

These groups come into being and are run by leaders. Here is what
the author says about them in this book, a bit different and more clearly, when
compared with the
original book:

“Group leaders do have political goals and the belief that the end
justifies the means.”

Lawson describes leaders as considering their members “disposable.”

Lawson states that some leaders work for corporations and politicians
(original book didn’t mention politicians.)

Lawson states that leaders identify targets but don’t directly supervise
the harassment group members.

Lawson describes leaders as having an “air of mystery”, “having worked for
the CIA, NSA, or some other intelligence agency that doesn’t reveal
information about their employees.” Lawson states that this “background” is
likely mythology.

How about financing these groups?

Although the author states that the pay is low, there are
still very large expenses to harass people as thoroughly as targets report. Here
is an example of what I mean by “large expenses”:

“Groups are well financed. They can afford to rent property
wherever the target lives. If he drives across the country, he will be
followed by supporters of similar groups in that area. If he travels by plane,
group members will meet him wherever he lands in the U.S. They may even
accompany him on a plane if they know his travel plan, and there is a good
chance that they do.”

Here is what the author learned about their financing:

[From Terrorist Stalking in America] “The operations of many
extremist groups are actually financed by corporations which use them to stalk
their enemies or potential enemies. The groups are used as the private armies
of those corporations. Some countries kill dissidents and in others they are
jailed. In the United States, someone who is threatening to corporations or
industries, like a whistleblower or activist, is likely to become the target
of an extremist group.”

The author makes several statements that
these criminal stalking groups not only harass targets specified by their
leaders, but also are FOR HIRE – a kind of “revenge service” for those wealthy
enough to hire them.

There are two distinct reasons why targets are harassed:

– The initial reason targets are placed on the stalking groups’ “list”

The reason the stalkers keep it up (always involves lies)

Those two reasons should always be kept separate in your mind, reader. David
Lawson’s focus is mainly on the reason the stalkers continue to harass targets.

David Lawson’s chapter on Selection of Targets may well
be true, but it certainly doesn’t describe the thousands of people who don’t fit
his list of targeted categories. Here are some of the categories of targets
Lawson records in “Cause Stalking”:

– Abortion clinic workers
– People guilty of mistreatment of
animals
– County clerks and local politicians
– Police officers

Judges
– IRS and Treasury agents
– Civil rights activists

Government or corporate whistleblowers

One thing David Lawson makes clear in describing the targets is that “The
ultimate goal of the groups is to destroy the targets.” Those who have been
stalked by organized citizen groups which are fed lies report that these groups
do destroy targets with great efficiency.

Next, let’s look at some of the typical OPERATIONS these
groups carry out. Here, I have retained a number of quotes from the original
book because I feel they state the situation as well or better than the new
book:


What about the future, then? Let me close this review with
a chilling quote from David Lawson’s first book, Terrorist Stalking in America,
reporting what the author learned from some of the leaders:

“The leaders … are starting to balk at exposing their members to
arrest for activities which amount to little gain for the movement. they say
that anyone who is a target should be killed, and not just harassed for
years.”

Eleanor White