Teens ‘speed run’ Scientology sites in real-life gaming

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is known for its colorful cast of characters.

- BY JAMES QUEALLY

DANIA MAXWELL Los Angeles Times A SCIENTOLOGY spokesman says targeting church properties "is not journalism, protest or civic activity."

But even by those standards, the scenes of Jesus Christ and Sonic the Hedgehog racing past security guards employed by the Church of Scientology in recent days were a little bizarre.

On Saturday afternoon, someone dressed as the Christian messiah was among the dozens of people in costumes and masks seen on a video forcing open the door of a Scientology building on Hollywood Boulevard after a tug-of-war with a security guard.

The footage posted on TikTok and Instagram shows the group sprinting up and down stairs and clashing with black-shirted security guards, giggling and gasping to catch their breath while church members scream at them to leave.

On their way out as security guards approach armed with fire extinguishers one of the sprinters stops and dances to celebrate their successful escape, a move reminiscent of a taunt from the video game “Fortnite.”

For weeks, groups of people have barged into two of the church’s Hollywood properties, racing through hallways and tussling with security guards, trying to see how far they can get before they are forced to leave by church staff. They call it “speed running,” slang for trying to beat a video game as quickly as possible, scurrying around hazards and taking shortcuts to skip through levels.

Those posting and commenting on the content online treat the events like real-life gaming, musing about facing off with famous Scientology figures in a “boss fight” and referring to each new area of a Scientology property seen on a run as a step toward unlocking parts Church officials say the incidents are not a game and have accused the speed runners of “hate crimes.”