Overview
- On May 2 a group of about 31 people forced open a locked side door of the Church of Scientology in Midtown Manhattan while a seminar was underway and streamed or filmed their actions.
- Law enforcement identified and arrested three men after the NYPD released surveillance footage, with two charged with burglary, criminal mischief and assault counted as hate crimes and a third charged with obstruction and evidence tampering.
- Authorities say the intruders caused roughly $10,000 in damage and kicked a 30-year-old employee who sustained minor injuries and did not require hospitalization.
- The Church of Scientology called the episode a coordinated trespass tied to a viral online trend, and it has tightened security while police in multiple cities continue to investigate similar entries.
- The term 'speedrunning' borrows from video-game culture and here describes groups rushing into buildings to film for social media, a behavior that officials warn can endanger staff, prompt vandalism charges and spur stricter policing of houses of worship.