politics
Scientology 'Speedrun' Trend Spreads to Vancouver Following Manhattan Incident
A group of 300 gathered outside a Church of Scientology facility in Vancouver on May 3 in the first international instance of the viral challenge. The previous day, intruders damaged property and injured a staff member at the church's Manhattan building. Church spokesperson David Bloomberg condemned the acts as organized trespasses for social media attention.
May 6, 9:26 PM·2m read1 source
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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.
