A California Church of Scientology center has removed its door handles and limited public access after a TikTok trend prompted teens to burst into the building and race down its halls.
Videos of the trend show young people filming themselves “speed running” through multiple Scientology buildings in Los Angeles, zooming past security guards and seeing how far they can run until they get caught.
The fiercely private church denounced the “speed running” fad and said it was more akin to “trespassing, harassment and disruption of religious facilities” in a statement to The Independent.
“Over recent weeks, individuals have repeatedly forced their way into Church properties on Hollywood Boulevard, disrupted religious and public facilities, damaged Church property, and endangered staff, parishioners and visitors,” the church said.
The church blasted the trend for turning “peaceful spaces” meant to be welcoming to parishioners and visitors into “targets for viral stunts.”
The Church of Scientology, a controversial religious movement founded in 1953 by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, is best known for its celebrity followers, including Tom Cruise, Elisabeth Moss and John Travolta.
The strong condemnation of the trend comes after a “large-scale incident” on Saturday saw dozens of people rushing into the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition and the church’s public information center, both on Hollywood Boulevard.
“Staff members were knocked down in the chaos, and the Church is reviewing all available remedies to protect its personnel, visitors and property,” the church said in a statement.
The church said it has reported the issue to authorities. The Los Angeles Police Department told NBC Los Angeles that they are monitoring the situation after receiving several calls, including four on Monday alone.
Video of Saturday’s incident showed a large group of people, many wearing masks, yanking the front door of the Scientology center open and rushing past a security guard. The group of rowdy runners included a person dressed up as Jesus and a person in a hot dog costume.
In the clip, the group of at least a dozen people was chased through different rooms inside the building. A voice was heard yelling, “You are trespassing, please leave! The police have been called!”
The video, which had been liked over 1.4 million times on Instagram, ended with the group being escorted off the premises.
At least two of the people involved are wanted on suspicion of crimes — one on suspicion of burglary and another on suspicion of felony vandalism, police said.
The church says it has documented every incident with law enforcement. However, it still welcomes “lawful visitors.”
Meanwhile, the 18-year-old who reportedly started the trend is now urging those who are replicating it to stop.
“I do not condone what I did, even though I didn’t break any laws,” the creator, who goes by Swhileyy online, told The Hollywood Reporter. “All I did was explore the building. I was never asked not to come back to the premises.”
The creator noted that they “never once” encouraged others to do the same, and said he did not do the stunt as a form of activism — as other copycats have claimed.
“I didn’t do this whatsoever to come out against them or anything, even though that’s kind of what it looks like,” he said. “Not once did I say it’s a cult or get out or anything like how the other people do it.”
Actor Leah Remini, who was once a Scientologist but is now outspoken against the religion, also urged people to stop, saying that she thinks it is “unwittingly helping” the religion.
“If someone is brainwashed for years into believing the outside world is filled with dangerous lunatics who wish to impede Scientology, a group of people running through a Scientology building is only going to confirm that belief and lead them to dedicate themselves even more to the cause they believe in,” she wrote on X.
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