Viral “Scientology speedruns” raise security concerns in Hollywood

Ericka Buensuceso said she was walking along Hollywood Boulevard on Saturday when she encountered a costumed group trying to get inside a nearby Church of Scientology information center as part of a viral TikTok trend. Buensuceso, who described the moment as unexpected and said she felt an adrenaline rush, said she had been discussing the phenomenon earlier that day.

The trend, which AP reported has been sweeping TikTok for about a month, is driven by videos of people entering multiple Church properties. Participants film themselves moving through the buildings quickly—borrowing “speedrun” terminology from video games—while attempting to map out the church’s locations and gather information about how the organization operates from the inside.

AP reported that the Los Angeles Police Department has responded to multiple incidents in the past month, including an incident investigated as a potential hate crime that Buensuceso witnessed. In response to the security concerns, the church removed external door handles from its Hollywood Boulevard properties this week, according to AP.

Scientology spokesperson David Bloomberg said the events are disruptive to the church and not a legitimate public activity. In a statement to AP, Bloomberg said the spaces are “peaceful” and designed to welcome parishioners, visitors and members of the public, adding that turning them into “targets for viral stunts” is not “journalism, protest or civic activity” but “trespass, harassment and disruption of religious facilities.”

In Buensuceso’s account, the group she saw included more than a dozen young people who forced their way into the building and later were removed. She posted a TikTok video describing the chaotic “raid” as some online users call these events.

AP also reported that participants sometimes appeared in costume as they moved through the properties. A sample of videos, described by AP, included people entering sites on Hollywood Boulevard and filming their attempts to complete tasks as fast as possible, with the common video-game slang aim of documenting the church’s layout and internal workings.

Charley Tenorio, a 20-year-old actor who lives in Hollywood, said he witnessed the same incident at a nearby business and described what he saw after the people entered. Tenorio said the group passed security and multiple workers and that he saw them later kicked out “quite angrily” by what he described as a small group of Scientology workers.

Another nearby resident, musician Ahsem Kabir, said he stopped at the building on Wednesday to check the removed door handles and said he understands why some viewers find the trend entertaining. Kabir said the speedruns add to the “lore” of the location, while acknowledging that the activity is “technically” not allowed.

AP reported that the motive behind the trend has been unclear. The viral spread appears tied to wider youth-driven social media culture, where commenters have framed the behavior as either puzzling or simply “fun,” even as the church and law enforcement describe a different impact.

The Church of Scientology’s statement to AP emphasized that the incidents have consequences beyond the videos. Bloomberg told AP that a staff member was injured during one of the incidents and required medical attention, reinforcing the church’s position that the trend has moved beyond online spectacle and into real-world disruption.