Claire Headley: The Not-So-Innocent Bystander Behind Anonymous
Evidence shows that Claire Headley wasn’t just a passive observer while her husband courted the cyberterrorist group Anonymous—she was in the thick of it: attending rallies, hosting hackers, and even helping the group target her own mother.
While Marc Headley’s entanglement with Anonymous has been well-documented, Claire managed to keep her hands looking clean. But she wasn’t just along for the ride, she was riding shotgun.
After Marc Headley was caught embezzling $15,000 from the Church of Scientology and fled, he didn’t just disappear—he rebranded himself and launched a bitter vendetta. His accomplice of choice? The cyberterrorist collective Anonymous—the same group known for cyberattacks, bomb threats, and harassment campaigns that span both digital and physical worlds.
“We ruin the lives of other people simply because we can,” stated a chilling Anonymous video in 2007.
Marc became a behind-the-scenes advisor, directing “Anons” to target the Church of Scientology, its leader, and individual Scientologists. Anonymous soon orchestrated a wave of criminal activity, including 41 death threats, 56 bomb and arson threats, 103 other threats of violence, 40 acts of vandalism, 3.6 million harassing emails, and 141 million malicious hits against Church websites. Marc’s reaction? “I couldn’t be more pleased with what they’ve done and how they’ve done it.”
What was Claire’s part in all this?
Far from being an uninvolved spouse, Claire was an active participant. In early 2008, she attended some of the earliest Anonymous rallies in Los Angeles, not as a curious onlooker, but to intimidate Church staff, shoulder to shoulder with masked agitators.
That same year, Claire and Marc hosted Anonymous members in their own home, providing food and drinks and encouraging the very people executing these attacks. The Headleys had become what Anonymous members dubbed “harassment mentors.”
And mentor them they did: Claire and Marc conspired to have Anonymous harass Claire’s mother at her workplace. During an online radio show, Marc told listeners, “My wife’s mom, her name is [redacted], and she works at [redacted] in Los Angeles, so any Anons that work at [redacted], you know, get in her ear.”
Their support for the cyberterrorist collective went beyond mere encouragement. In 2009, the Headleys threw a weekend gathering for members at Pyramid Lake, providing their personal jet skis for the event. They held another get-together in Venice Beach, where notorious Anonymous member and scam artist Garry Scarff later posted, “Thanks for a great weekend, Marc.”
By that point, the law had caught up with many Anons. A Los Angeles member—who had marched alongside the Headleys—was convicted of vandalism and given a restraining order after stalking a female Scientologist. In New Jersey, one member received a yearlong prison sentence on a felony charge. In Boston, another was placed on probation and hit with a stay-away order. In Nevada, an Anonymous member Marc had personally provoked was arrested after threatening to shoot and bomb Church members. And in perhaps the most extreme case, a military service member who threatened to send a “vehicle-borne IED” to the Church leader’s home was brought before nonjudicial military proceedings, found guilty and discharged. His stated motivation? Incendiary information provided by Marc Headley.
And yet, none of this gave Claire pause. After the arrests, the threats, the violence—she still publicly praised the group, describing Anonymous members as “some of the nicest people.”
Claire Headley wasn’t dragged into the hate-filled Anonymous campaign—she embraced it. While others faced convictions, she played hostess and cheered them on. The mask may have come off, but the record speaks for itself.
