Inside ‘Scientology speedruns,’ the viral trend prompting the church to bolster security

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ericka Buensuceso was walking along Hollywood Boulevard on Saturday when she came across an alien, two hot dogs and Jesus.

The motley costumed crew was banding together with several others, united by the common goal of breaking into the nearby Church of Scientology information center and running through as much of it as possible.

Buensuceso was witnessing “Scientology speedrunning” in real time, a familiar social media trend that has been sweeping TikTok for about a month — and raising security concerns for the church. She and her friend had just been talking about it earlier that day.

“I felt an adrenaline rush because I was like, ‘No way this is happening right now for me,’” she said. “I’m about to witness something that I thought that I would only see on social media.”

The trend took off in early April, with users on social media posting videos of themselves — sometimes inexplicably in costume — entering multiple properties owned or inhabited in some way by the Church of Scientology. Participants film themselves “speedrunning” through the building, or aiming to complete a task as fast as possible per the common video game slang. That task? Map out the church’s buildings and get as much information as they can about the inner workings of the organization.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed it has responded to multiple incidents in the past month, including the one witnessed by Buensuceso, which was investigated as a potential hate crime. The church this week removed all external door handles on its Hollywood Boulevard properties.

While it may amuse online viewers, this is far from lighthearted fun to the church. Scientology spokesperson David Bloomberg told The Associated Press that a staff member was injured during one of the incidents and required medical attention as a result.

“These are peaceful spaces designed to welcome parishioners, visitors and members of the public,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “Turning them into targets for viral stunts is not journalism, protest or civic activity. It is trespass, harassment and disruption of religious facilities.”

The group Buensuceso witnessed consisted of mostly young boys, and she assumed most of them were either in high school or potentially even middle school, not only because of their youthful appearances, but because she considers it juvenile behavior.

Buensuceso posted a video on TikTok of her perspective of the chaotic “raid” as some online call these events. Her video shows a group of more than a dozen young people forcing their way into the church’s building on Hollywood Boulevard, which has become a common location for people looking to participate in the social media craze.

The motive behind the trend is rather unclear, but like much of Gen-Z and Generation Alpha culture, the meaning could come from the meaninglessness. Nonsensical “brain rot” content has dominated social media platforms in recent years, often led by young people and often leaving older people scratching their heads or searching for the deeper meaning of trends. One commenter on a recent TikTok video of a speedrun asked why people are doing this, and another user simply replied, “because it’s fun.”

“If you’re on TikTok at all, you can see all the different videos,” said Charley Tenorio, a 20-year-old actor who lives in Hollywood. “All the jokes in the comments that if they get to the top, you’ll find Tom Cruise.”

Scientology has a notable celebrity following and Cruise is one of its most famous practitioners. The religion consists of a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals focused on spiritual betterment. Science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard’s 1950 book “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health” is a foundational text.

Tenorio was eating at Taco Bell across the street from the building on Saturday when he witnessed the same incident as Buensuceso.

“I saw them go inside. They passed the security guard, they passed multiple of the workers,” he recalled. “That was all I saw until a couple seconds later when they were all kicked out quite angrily by this small horde of Scientology workers.”

Ahsem Kabir, a musician who lives nearby, stopped by the building on Wednesday to check out the removed door handles. He has followed the trend, which he thinks contributes to the church’s mystique.

“I do get entertainment out of the speedruns. I think it’s pretty funny,” he said. “I know that technically it’s not allowed, but I think it just kind of adds to the lore of this place.”

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.