Victoria Britton shocks and moves as she breaks her silence on the Scientology death of her son Kyle Brennan

By Damian DeWitt, February 18, 2013

Catholic mother Victoria Britton of Charlottesville, Virginia, made a stunning debut last Friday evening on a God Discussion radio show speaking publicly for the first time about the suspicious death of her 20-year-old son Kyle Brennan while visiting his Scientologist father in Clearwater, FL, six years ago.

It was the eve of the sixth anniversary of Kyle’s death on February 16, 2007.

Listeners were horrified at the treatment Kyle received because of Scientology's hate-fueled War On Psychiatry simply because he was a mildly depressed college student.

Many listeners were moved to tears listening to Mrs. Britton speak, and particularly at this message she delivered:

"What I would like to say to people is...I would like to ask them this question, to the people who may be thinking about leaving the church of Scientology at this moment,

or perhaps they're confused whether they should stay or leave, I want them to ask themselves:

What kind of a belief system, one that calls itself a church, is going to ask you to deny the strongest instinct and emotions that make you human,

and that is to love and protect your children, and that no organization, especially one that calls itself a church, should ever ask a parent to throw their child away or to disconnect from them.

And to think about that, and when you do, don't walk away from this organization.

Run, as fast as you can, because your life or your child's life may depend on that."

Kyle's estate filed a wrongful death suit in 2007 in a Florida federal court, and the full might of Scientology's "holy war of litigation" bore down on the Britton family for the next five years.

An appeal in the case was denied in September 2012.

However, a reading of the articles at Justice For Kyle Brennan and study of depositions in the case, which only became public a year ago, suggest that obstruction of justice and violation of Kyle's civil rights have been massive. They cry out for investigation by government authorities.

It was heartening therefore to hear Mrs. Britton say the way forward to justice for Kyle Brennan is to seek re-opening of the case.

The death of Kyle Brennan is of the greatest significance not only in the US but around the world wherever Scientology wages its war on society.

Pre-show announcements were posted in French in Montreal, where Kyle's grandmother grew up, and in Spanish in Buenos Aires where his step-grandmother lives.

One commenter has posed the following question:

"Will Kyle Brennan be the 20-year-old David who brings the Scientology Goliath crashing to the ground?"

With wide-spread public support for the Britton family and attention from investigative journalists and the broadcast media this may very well be the case.

The first half of the show was dedicated to Victoria speaking out. In the second half three commenters discussed important aspects of Kyle's life and death - Canadian psychiatrist Dr. Steve Wiseman; former Scientology executive Lance Marcor; and David Love, who has led a campaign that has shut down the operations in Canada of Scientology's Narconon drug rehabilitation front group.

For readers who missed the show David Love has published an excellent summary, and they can find there a link to the podcast.

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Ed. - We have reproduced the article above posted by Damian DeWitt on Facebook and have edited it slightly.

Victoria Britton to speak in live broadcast on the Scientology death of her son Kyle Brennan, Friday, February 15

The God Discussion Show has announced that Victoria Britton – whose son Kyle Brennan died in Clearwater, Florida, the Scientology  Mecca, under very suspicious circumstances while visiting his Scientologist father -- will be the featured guest for the program’s two-hour Friday, February 15, live podcast.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Victoria will share with radio host Deborah Beeksma her 20-year-old son's story: what he was like growing up; how Kyle, a non-Scientologist, felt about the Church of Scientology; and how he became a victim of the church's dictatorial "handling" mandate and its well-known war against psychiatry and psychotropic medications.

Victoria will also talk about Narconon, the Scientology-run facility that bills itself as a legitimate drug rehabilitation center. Victoria's segment will last one hour.

During the show's second hour, ex-Scientologist Lance Marcor will discuss "handling" and "disconnection", two of Scientology's most injurious policies; Dr. Stephen Wiseman will talk about the church from a psychiatrist's point of view; and David Love will talk about Narconon - how the facility treats illegal drugs and medically approved medications as being one and the same.

The Friday, February 15 show will air at 6pm Pacific/7pm Mountain/8pm Central/9 pm Eastern/times, and 3am GMT. The show can be accessed through the God Discussion Show page. A podcast will be posted at the site after the broadcast.

Dr. Stephen Wiseman is a psychiatrist and the medical director of the Complex Pain Centre at St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada. He has researched and presented on Scientology's relationship with psychiatry for many years, conducting workshops at both the American and Canadian Psychiatric Association annual conferences.

Dr. Wiseman is a proponent of evidence-based medicine, and believes that the fear and mis-information presented by Scientology about psychiatry over the years has perpetuated the stigma against patients and their families and has been very destructive to the cause of rational mental health treatment for all who require it.

David Love, who was born on the West Coast of British Columbia, now resides in the Montreal area. David formed a charitable organization in 1990 and was the director of a rehabilitation center for substance abuse.

David was both a patient and a staffer at the Narconon facility in the province of Quebec and is completing a book on his experience there. He has appeared on several God Discussion shows.

Lance Marcor joined Scientology’s “Sea Org”, the unit comprising the church’s most dedicated members, in 1978. Two years later, after arriving at “Flag Land Base”, the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida, Scientology’s spiritual headquarters,

Lance was fully trained in the church’s “ethics policy”, a bedrock principle of founder L. Ron Hubbard’s teachings, and put in charge of 300 staff members’ “ethics.” Lance left the church in 2007, and he is uniquely qualified as a former Scientology insider to speak about the organization’s inner workings and little-understood doctrine, policies, and procedures.   

Kyle Brennan was born on April 2, 1986, and died on February 16, 2007. He was a talented artist and prolific writer of short stories. Though he was only twenty at the time of his death and a sophomore in college, he was a man of international connections.

His maternal grandmother is from Montreal. His step-grandmother is from Argentina and lives in Buenos Aires. The Brittons' plans to take to him to visit her were cut short by his death. 

Kyle's father's family were Irish-American Catholics. Kyle dreamed of visiting Ireland with his oldest brother Scott and then returning to open a restaurant in their home town. 

Kyle spent a good deal of time visiting Berlin and other cities in Germany since his older brother Sean was stationed with the US military there. A visit Kyle made to the great church of St. Michael in Bamberg left a profound impression on him and strengthened his resolve to fight against evil.

Victoria Britton has been seeking the truth about Kyle’s death—and fighting for justice for her son, despite tremendous adversity—since his death in 2006. She believes that Kyle’s story is an important one that must be told. It can serve as a warning to others. It can save lives.

Deborah Beeksma is the host at GodDiscussion.com, a news and review service for the growing number of people not affiliated with an organized religion. 

God Discussion is a site “for believers who don’t go to church.” The views expressed on the site are not expressly denominational. It honors points of view from many traditions in discussion about God and how beliefs impact families, government, and culture.

For background we refer readers to the article at Justice For Kyle Brennan - The death of 20-year-old Kyle Brennan as an Enemy of the Church of Scientology.

UPDATE: God Discussion has now posted their own full announcement of the show: Blind Justice? The Brennan Estate v. Church of Scientology (Friday, February 15)