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Church of Scientology blames A&E for murder of one of its members, says show inspired ‘bigotry and violence’
PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

Church of Scientology blames A&E for murder of one of its members, says show inspired ‘bigotry and violence’

The church says docuseries 'Scientology and the Aftermath' is to blame

The Church of Scientology says that the A&E network and one of its docuseries is to blame for the recent murder of one of its members, according to Page Six.

What are the details about the murder?

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Chih-Hen Yeh was stabbed earlier in January outside of Scientology's headquarters in Sydney, Australia.

Yeh, a 24-year-old Taiwanese national, died after a 16-year-old boy reportedly stabbed him in the neck.

The unidentified teen's mother was reportedly inside the headquarters undergoing a "purification ceremony" at the time of the attack.

The teen suspect reportedly had fought with his mother earlier that week over her involvement in the organization, and tried to visit the headquarters in order to speak with her.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the teen encountered Yeh, who was escorting the teen suspect's mother to the "ceremony."

The teen reportedly stabbed Yeh after being told to leave the premises.

What did the church say?

In a letter obtained by The Underground Bunker, the Church of Scientology accused the network of spreading hate, which led to Yeh's death.

The network's show about Scientology was to blame, according to the letter.

The letter also took aim at actress Leah Remini — a former Scientologist — who starred in an anti-Scientology docuseries on A&E.

A portion of the letter read, "For years, A&E executives ignored our warnings that the series was inspiring bigotry and violence. You knew what you were doing. Your intent was to stir up hate and turn it into cash. Now somebody has been murdered. Your indifference and obsession with stirring hate underwrote his murder."

In the letter, Karen Pouw — who isa spokesperson for the church — said that the teen was "inspired" to carry out the act of violence after seeing a website linking to the A&E docuseries, which features Remini's account of her disturbing experiences with the organization.

The letter said that the suspect reportedly "spouted vicious religious hatred and propaganda, incited by A&E and the Leah Remini/Mike Rinder series" before fatally stabbing Yeh.

The letter also called for the network to suspend the series.

"We urged you to stop the hate and repeatedly told you the harm it was causing, which was escalating with each paid-for, hate-filled episode," the letter read. "Now, somebody is dead. You paid for the hate that caused his murder. And you profit. Stop your program."

Anything else?

A network spokesperson issued a statement on the organization's attempt to pin the murder on the network.

The statement read, "Unfortunately, Scientology is trying to blame and start a smear campaign against Leah Remini and the show for something she had nothing to do with, for a murder that happened between their members."

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Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor

Sarah is a former staff writer for TheBlaze, and a former managing editor and producer at TMZ. She resides in Delaware with her family. You can reach her via Twitter at @thesarahdtaylor.