A pair of teenagers have landed themselves in hot water while participating in a viral TikTok trend that involves the wilful trespass of Church of Scientology buildings.<\/p>\n
The \u201cScientology Speedrun\u201d trend began in the US late last month with a series of videos featuring groups of teenage boys deliberately rushing security at Scientology churches.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, both the Sydney and Brisbane Scientology buildings became surrounded by young people, mostly teenagers, demanding access to the building.<\/p>\n
According to NSW police, officers responded to a large gathering of \u201cabout 100 young people\u201d out the front of the Sydney Church of Scientology on Castlereagh St about 1.30pm.<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficers attached to Sydney City Police Area Command attended along with the public order riot squad and assisted in dispersing the group,\u201d a police spokesman said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cA 19-year-old woman and 17-year-old girl were arrested for failing to comply with a police direction. The 19-year-old woman was issued a criminal infringement notice for failing to comply with a police direction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The 17-year-old was not charged.<\/p>\n
In Brisbane, similar antics were taking place on George St in the CBD, where a 15-year-old from Varsity Lakes and an 18-year-old man from Deception Bay were slapped with charges.<\/p>\n
The 15-year-old was charged with one count of unlawful entry of a vehicle, and the 18-year-old was charged with public nuisance, driving a vehicle carelessly and failing to wear a helmet.<\/p>\n
Footage of the incident shows the teenagers hopping into the open driver\u2019s-side door of a Queensland Police Service sedan and grabbing onto the steering wheel before quickly hopping out.<\/p>\n
Other footage taken at the scene shows a person riding a BMX bike over the top of the same vehicle.<\/p>\n
No one was able to gain entry to the Scientology building.<\/p>\n
The trend began when a small band of teenagers began filming themselves trespassing at the Hollywood Church of Scientology Information Centre in Los Angeles in late March.<\/p>\n
Two teens, who had each filmed themselves entering the building on separate occasions and causing general havoc, elected to collaborate on a joint video and rush as far into the depths of the building as they could.<\/p>\n
The video, which was viewed more than 90 million times before it was taken down, spawned copycat efforts at Scientology buildings across the US.<\/p>\n
TikTok users began treating the \u201cspeedruns\u201d as a gradual effort to physically chart a map of the inside of the LA Scientology Information Centre that would be updated each time a group of trespassers got further into the building than the last group.<\/p>\n
The Church of Scientology is a notoriously secretive religious group that has been characterised as \u201ccult-like\u201d by investigative reporters and ex-members.<\/p>\n
The church has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n
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