Editing Clearwater, Florida (section)

==Church of Scientology==
{{see also|Flag Land Base}}

The [[Church of Scientology]]'s "spiritual headquarters" are located in downtown Clearwater. The Church refers to Clearwater as its "Flag Land Base".<ref name=TampaBayTimes/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scientology.org/churches/flag-land-base.html|title=Official Church of Scientology Video: Religious Mecca, Flag Land Base|website=www.scientology.org|access-date=June 19, 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Scientology Clearwater headquarters.JPG|thumb|The [[Church of Scientology]]'s Clearwater headquarters, the [[Super Power Building]]]]
The Church of Scientology owns several historical landmark buildings including the [[Fort Harrison Hotel]] and the Clearwater Bank Building. As of 2019, Scientology had purchased so much property in downtown Clearwater that it owned most of the commercial buildings in the downtown core, many of which remained vacant. According to an investigation by the ''[[Tampa Bay Times]]'', "The [Church of Scientology], its members and companies they control now own 185 properties that cover 101 acres in the center of downtown. Half the properties were bought since January 2017. ...Seventy-three percent of the property is [now] tax-exempt for religious purposes."<ref name="tbt2019">{{multiref2 |1={{cite web |url=https://projects.tampabay.com/projects/2019/investigations/scientology-clearwater-real-estate/ |title=How Scientology doubled its downtown Clearwater footprint in 3 years |first=Tracey |last=McManus |date=October 20, 2019 |website=[[Tampa Bay Times]]}} |2={{cite web |url=https://www.tampabay.com/gallery/2019/10/20/slideshow-all-the-church-of-scientologys-buildings-in-pinellas-county/ |title=Slideshow: All the Church of Scientology's buildings in Pinellas County |first=Tracee |last=Stockwell |date=October 20, 2019 |website=[[Tampa Bay Times]]}} }}</ref> By 2024, the count was up to 210 parcels purchased since 2017, including the office tower where city government offices were located, and leaving only seven remaining commercial property owners who are not associated with Scientology or government.<ref>{{Cite web |title=$58M sale extends Scientologists' control of downtown Clearwater |url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2024/04/04/58m-sale-extends-scientologists-control-downtown-clearwater/ |first=Tracey |last=McManus |date=April 4, 2024 |work=Tampa Bay Times}}</ref>

Beginning in the 1970s under the code-name [[Project Normandy]], the [[Church of Scientology]] began targeting Clearwater in order to "establish area control" of the city and county. The operations were exposed in a Pulitzer Prize winning series of articles in the ''Clearwater Sun''.<ref>{{cite news | first = Richard | last = Leiby | title = Scientologists plot city takeover | url = http://www.moreaboutscientologycult.eu/usa/us-articles-clearwater-sun-1.pdf#page=26 | format = PDF scan, 1.9MB | publisher = Clearwater Sun | date = November 3, 1979 | access-date = January 1, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120208125759/http://www.moreaboutscientologycult.eu/usa/us-articles-clearwater-sun-1.pdf#page=26 | archive-date = February 8, 2012 | url-status = dead }}</ref> [[Gabe Cazares]], who was the mayor of Clearwater at the time, went so far as to call it "the occupation of Clearwater"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lisatrust.bogie.nl/scientology/normandy1.htm|title=SECRET POWER PROJECT : 3 NORMANDY Ref. GO Order 261175 LRH "POWER" Target 3|date=December 5, 1975|website=lisatrust.bogie.nl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030610193814/http://lisatrust.bogie.nl/scientology/normandy1.htm|archive-date=June 10, 2003|access-date=June 18, 2016}}</ref> and later characterized it as a "paramilitary operation by a terrorist group".<ref name="interview">{{Citation|last=Mark Bunker|title=Scientology: Gabe Cazares Interview|date=November 1, 2012|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQtH8TLwm30| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211111/eQtH8TLwm30| archive-date=November 11, 2021 | url-status=live|access-date=June 19, 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The Church of Scientology targeted Cazares, attempting to entrap him in a sex scandal.<ref name="shipbrook Cazares handling">{{cite web|url=http://www.shipbrook.com/jeff/CoS/docs/handling.html|title=Mayor Cazares Handling Project|access-date=June 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812024403/http://www.shipbrook.com/jeff/CoS/docs/handling.html|archive-date=August 12, 2010}}</ref><ref name="shipbrook Cazares speedy">{{cite web|url=http://www.shipbrook.com/jeff/CoS/docs/speedy.html|title=Speedy Gonzalez|access-date=June 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805045247/http://shipbrook.com/jeff/CoS/docs/speedy.html|archive-date=August 5, 2010}}</ref> Scientology also staged a phony [[hit-and-run accident]] with Cazares in an attempt to discredit him. Cazares and his wife [[lawsuit|sued]] the Church of Scientology for $1.5 million. The church settled with Cazares in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/30/Northpinellas/For_the_disadvantaged.shtml|title=Northpinellas: For the disadvantaged and against Scientology|website=www.sptimes.com|access-date=June 19, 2016}}</ref>