Sydney’s Church of Scientology building on Castlereagh Street—right in the heart of the CBD—normally goes unnoticed. But now it's become the latest in a global trend targeting the Church, specifically regarding an incident resulting in the deployment of riot police and the issuing of move-on orders.
‘Scientology Speedrunning’ has become a worldwide trend, amassing millions of views on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. These ‘Speedruns’ involve groups of adolescents forcing their way inside Church of Scientology buildings, attempting to infiltrate for as long as possible before being forcibly removed. Some have also set the goal of beating time and distance records or mapping out the inside of the buildings.
On Sunday, 3rd of May, Instagram creator @becky_stevens03 posted a reel captioned, ‘Sydney Scientology speedrun anyone?’, garnering around 800k views (and growing), showing shots of the Church’s building on Castlereagh Street.
The next day, two teenagers (aged 14 and 16) were arrested after being locked inside by security following an attempt to speedrun through the building.
Not long after, on the 5th,@sydscientologyspeedrun was created (the account has since been taken down), advertising a speedrun to take place on the 9th at 2 p.m. In a statement, the account laid out its aims“to bring LIBERTY to those SILENCED by the CULT of SCIENTOLOGY and BRUTALLY MOG intergalactic emperor XENU”. Further among its posts were floor plans with labeled entrances and exits, and the seemingly satirical demand ‘Release the files’, likely in reference to the Epstein Files.
This plan was boosted by reposts from popular Sydney social media accounts and faces like @newtown.affirmations, Joshua Cherub, and UNSW Goonsoc. It also attracted the attention of Tommy Bui, one of the more popular of Los Angeles’ Scientology raiders. All the while, the magic of social media word-of-mouth spread it further.
The speedrunners gathered in a small plaza opposite the Church. Their ultimate goal was taking on Xenu, with many in the crowd wearing face masks or body costumes, including: a cow, a Subway surfer cosplay, a beer bottle and a handful of propeller hats. The infamous e-bikes were aplenty among the crowd, as riders performed wheelies on the nearby road.
Not long after the crowd had begun to assemble, a small group wielding phones crossed the street, likely to attempt a speedrun, but were blocked by four police officers who had been guarding the Church’s entrance. The group then retreated back into the crowd. Police were spotted unholstering and preparing Pepper Spray for use. Inside, Scientology security shut blinds and stood by the entrance.
Crowd numbers continued to grow, reaching well over a hundred. Some sections split off to idle in front of the Castlereagh Club adjacent to the Church. Joshua Cherub, infamous internet ‘performance artist,’ also appeared as the sound of air horns were being sounded by speedrunners. He helped lead the chants, ‘We Want Xenu!’ and ‘We Want Epstein!’
One individual, a young man wearing a blue suit – identified by members of the crowd as ‘Epstein’ – positioned himself as the speedrun’s organiser. Surrounding him were a gaggle of other characters who debated strategy, worked the growing crowd, and set off party poppers.
Through all the spectacle, some hadn’t forgotten the seriousness of targeting the Church of Scientology. Two speedrunners held signs reading ‘Scientology Kills.’ Yet the gravity which the speedrun account had spoken of was not present, as those present continued to mill around, occasionally shouting obscenities and chalking the ground with penises.
At around 2:10 p.m., officers of the Police Riot Squad arrived in both marked and unmarked SUVs. They stood in rank below the classical-style facade of the Church. A bicycle officer then issued a move-on order to the crowd, who threw back insults and largely stayed in the plaza.
Riot police first dispersed those in front of the Castlereagh Club, before crossing the road and sending the crowd into a stampede. Scattering up and down Castlereagh Street and around to Hyde Park, some speedrunners argued with officers; but ultimately the crowd dispersed, and the enemies of Xenu were defeated without incident.
In the now-empty plaza, the sprinkled offerings of party poppers lay alongside assorted litter, broken dreams and a scribbled chalk penis. A squad of Riot Police continued to guard the door even after the streets emptied. A Scientology security guard chatted with one officer, relief on his face. The Church and its insides remained as elusive as ever.
NSW Police confirmed two were arrested for not complying with move-on order, which we did not witness. While police acted with restraint, it was hard not to see their response as disproportionate. This crowd was no doubt a public nuisance, and police were within their rights to move them on. Yet did this action require multiple squads of riot police? Was it necessary to prepare the use of pepper spray — a chemical weapon — against a rowdy group of juveniles? The only actual attempt at trespassing was defeated by the stern words of a single regular police officer.
It's comical that the Sydney Scientology Speedrun exposed the NSW police’s troubling philosophy of overwhelming force, and even funnier to imagine the police force desperately dispatching riot police against a crowd chanting “Free Tung Tung Tung Sahur.”
Overall it seems a tad bit overkill, and demonstrative of a concerning standard of policing. But maybe it isn’t all negative. As one speedrunner put it to us: “The amount of cops that came, just to see us, all against them, it's beautiful.”
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