Police are investigating after more than 200 people – many of them teenagers – stormed the Church of Scientology of Brisbane and climbed over and into police vehicles as part of a social media trend on the weekend.
Acting Superintendent Simon Tayler said officers had managed to identify numerous teenagers involved in Saturday’s incident, many of whom posted images of themselves storming the building and vandalising police vehicles on their own social media accounts.
“This isn’t just something fun that you post on social media so your mates can click ‘like’; this was a very deliberate act to intimidate people in our state,” Tayler said.
He said three officers had been posted outside the Scientology building on George St, and elsewhere in the city, after police flagged social media activity indicating up to a dozen people would try to storm the building.
Instead, upwards of 200 people arrived and quickly overwhelmed officers outside the church, Tayler said.
“Unfortunately, due to the nature and the dynamic situation, two of those police officers, while going to render assistance to their supervisor, left the front door of one of the marked police vehicles unlocked,” he said.
Two teenagers then entered the vehicle, filming themselves throughout. Another teenager rode a BMX bike over one of the cars, Tayler said, while two walked over the roof of a marked police car.
Back-up personnel were called to the scene and quickly dispersed the crowd.
Officers on the street later identified one of the pair who allegedly entered the police car – a 15-year-old boy, who on Sunday was served a notice to appear before court.
“We work exceptionally hard to provide a safe and secure environment for everyone that lives and works here in Queensland,” Tayler said.
“Yesterday we saw someone, because of some social media that started overseas, go and attempt to cause havoc here in our city.”
Those involved were following a social media trend called “speed running”, which originated on TikTok.
The trend involves storming Scientology buildings with the aim of getting as far inside as possible before being caught by staff or detained.
The first incident was recorded in the US in early May, with other Scientology buildings – including in the UK and Sydney – subsequently targeted.
Tayler said police were actively tracking down other teens involved in the incident.
“I can’t stress enough … that that sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable,” he said.
“This starts with people in their homes knowing what their children are doing.
“As a father, I can tell you right now, if my 16-year-old daughter turned up yesterday, it’d be a very different outcome for her. We need people to start to have those conversations in their houses.”
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