LOS ANGELES — A Church of Scientology building in the heart of Hollywood removed its door handles and restricted public entry this week after a bizarre social media trend prompted young people to rush inside and race through its halls.
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Videos of the trend, some of which have picked up millions of views on TikTok and Instagram, feature participants recording themselves “speed running,” as if in a video game, through Scientology’s buildings in Hollywood. They are often seen dodging screaming church members and security guards until they are ultimately escorted out.
Scientology is a fiercely private religious group that follows the teachings of founder L. Ron Hubbard and has celebrity adherents, including A-list stars like Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
The church slammed participants in a statement Wednesday, accusing the “speed running” participants of “trespassing, harassment and disruption of religious facilities.”
“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.
Turning its spaces into “targets for viral stunts is not journalism, protest or civic activity,” it added.
Police told NBC Los Angeles that they are monitoring the ongoing trend after having received multiple calls to Scientology buildings in the Hollywood Division. Four of the calls came Monday.
Police said the trend was further fueled by a post on X offering a financial incentive for videos of “speed runs.” So far, no one has been arrested in connection with participating in the trend. But officials said a couple of cases have been documented as hate-crime investigations, depending on what a suspect said or did during a “run.”
Police said they are conducting extra patrols in and around the area to deter further incidents.
The church specifically referred in its statement to a “large-scale incident” Saturday when dozens of people rushed into the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition and the church’s public information center, both on Hollywood Boulevard, without permission.
“Staff members were knocked down in the chaos, and the Church is reviewing all available remedies to protect its personnel, visitors and property,” the statement said.
Video of the incident appears to show a large group of people — including a person in a Jesus costume and one in a Sonic the Hedgehog costume — yanking open the doors to the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition, even as a security guard tries to keep the doors shut on the other side.
Once the doors open, the video shows, at least a dozen young people, many of them wearing face coverings or ski masks, storm into the building and run into different rooms inside. Someone chases after the group yelling: “You are trespassing, please leave! The police have been called!”
The video, which had amassed over 1.4 million views on Instagram as of Wednesday, ends with the group being ushered off the premises by Scientology personnel.
Police officials said that they are aware of the incident and that at least two suspects in that group are wanted on suspicion of crimes, one on suspicion of burglary and another on suspicion of felony vandalism.
Police said officers at the scene completed a report for vandalism and battery with a hate crime involved.
The church said it documents and reports every incident to law enforcement and has taken “additional security measures” to protect staff members, visitors and parishioners.
“The Church welcomes lawful visitors,” its statement said. “It does not welcome mobs forcing entry, damaging property, disrupting religious spaces or endangering people for views.”
The 18-year-old content creator who is purported to have started the trend recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he wants the copycats 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 outlet. “All I did was explore the building. I was never asked not to come back to the premises.”
“I never once in any video or any comment section or anywhere promoted the idea of running through there or beating my record,” Swhileyy added.
Swhileyy, who does not share his real name online or with the Hollywood Reporter, did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Actor Leah Remini, a former Scientologist who is an outspoken critic of the religion, also urged people to stop participating in the trend, saying she believes it is “unwittingly helping Scientology.”
“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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