Hundreds of youth were involved in an incident at the Vancouver Scientology building, and it wasn’t because they were looking for a personality test from the controversial Church.
A viral TikTok trend that has been making waves in the States involving the Church of Scientology hit Vancouver this past weekend, leading to an arrest.
According to online reports, the trend began late last month, and TikTok user @swhileyy is one of the users credited with starting it.
The first speed run took place at the Hollywood Scientology centre, and the video went viral, showing hordes of young people running into the building being chased by employees.
@nbcnewsA Church of Scientology building in the heart of Hollywood removed its door handles and restricted public entry this week as videos showing young people run inside have gone viral on social media.♬ original sound – nbcnews
It got so bad that, according to NBC News, the Hollywood church removed its door handles and restricted public entry.
Well, the trend has made its way to Vancouver.
According to Constable Darren Wong with the VPD, the situation unfolded at around 3 p.m. on Saturday.
VPD officers diverted from another protest, after reports of 250 to 300 people, “mostly youth,” were trying to gain entry to the Church of Scientology building at 401 W. Hastings St.
Wong said that some of the attendees were trying to kick in the gate at the rear of the building, but were stopped by police.
“People in the crowd were throwing things at police. No police or anyone in the crowd was injured,” Wong added.
After the crowd dispersed, it returned at around 5 p.m. One person was arrested and the crowd “attempted to surround the members making that arrest.”
Police were able to move the crowd away from the building nearly two hours later by 6:30 p.m.
Wong said that young attendees of these types of events should be concerned about their future prospects.
“Just a reminder for anyone in attendance or planning on doing something similar in the future that there are real criminal consequences at play that can affect post-secondary education and employment opportunities,” he said.