Scientology 'Speedrun' Trend Spreads to Vancouver Following Manhattan Incident

A group of some 300 people gathered outside a Church of Scientology facility in Vancouver on May 3, marking the first time the viral Scientology Speedrun challenge had been brought to a city outside the United States. The front door was locked and no one entered the building. The event came one day after the trend spread beyond Los Angeles for the first time.

On May 2, a group allegedly broke a door to enter the Church of Scientology’s Manhattan building. Individuals threw objects and damaged property inside. A staff member was injured during the incident.

The viral Scientology Speedrun trend had been exclusively relegated to Los Angeles before May 2. It originated with a TikTok video posted in March by an anonymous creator called Swhileyy. Swhileyy sprinted through Scientology’s iconic main campus in Hollywood, California, dodging staff, navigating stairwells, and laughing.

Swhileyy’s TikTok video amassed tens of millions of views. The 18-year-old later denounced the speedrun trend in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He described a subsequent Los Angeles attempt in which five masked individuals used air horns, created a commotion and pushed a Scientologist to the ground.

“They went through there with five people. They all had masks on or towels on their face. They had air horns. They ran through creating a crazy commotion. [I heard] they actually pushed a Scientologist to the ground, which is insane to me.

That’s assault,” Swhileyy said. Swhileyy added that he did not condone what he did even though he did not break any laws. “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,” he said. In a statement shared with USA Today, Scientology spokesperson David Bloomberg said church facilities are peaceful spaces designed to welcome parishioners, visitors and members of the public.

“Turning them into targets for viral stunts is not journalism, protest or civic activity.

It is trespass, harassment and disruption of religious facilities,” Bloomberg stated. ” “In reality, they involve organized trespasses into religious and public information facilities for social media attention,” he said. The Church has taken additional security measures to protect staff, visitors, parishioners and religious sites.

“Those measures are not the story. The story is that a house of worship and public information facilities have been repeatedly targeted by people seeking internet attention,” Bloomberg said. Usa Today reported that the virality of the trend has drawn comparisons to the 2019 “Storm Area 51” meme event.

The Church of Scientology was founded in Los Angeles in 1954 by L. Ron Hubbard. ” Dianetics is a technical handbook for ridding the mind of nightmares, unreasonable fears, upsets, insecurities and psychosomatic illness.