Police tracking teens through social media after hundreds storm church
Police are investigating after more than 200 people, mostly teenagers, broke into the Brisbane Church of Scientology and boarded police vehicles as part of a weekend social media trend.
Acting Inspector Simon Tayler said officers managed to identify a number of young people involved in Saturday’s incident, many of whom posted photos of themselves storming the building and damaging police vehicles on their social media accounts.
“This isn’t just a fun thing you shared on social media so your friends can hit the ‘like’ button; this was a very intentional act to scare people in our state,” Tayler said.
He said three officers were deployed outside the Scientology building on George St and elsewhere in the city after police flagged social media activity indicating that up to a dozen people were likely to try to attack the building.
Instead, more than 200 people arrived and quickly overwhelmed the officers outside the church, Tayler said.
“Unfortunately, due to the nature and dynamic situation, two of these officers left the front door of one of their marked police vehicles open while they went to assist their superior,” he said.
Then two young people got into the vehicle and filmed themselves. Tayler said another teenager ran over one of the cars on his BMX bike, while two other teenagers walked over the roof of a marked police car.
Reinforcements were called to the scene and quickly dispersed the crowd.
Officers on the street later located one of the couples who allegedly entered the police car, a 15-year-old boy who had been given a notice to appear in court on Sunday.
“We work incredibly hard to provide a safe and secure environment for everyone who lives and works here in Queensland,” Tayler said.
“Due to some social media that started abroad yesterday, we saw that someone was trying to go and wreak havoc on our city.”
The people involved were following a social media trend called “speedrunning” that originated on TikTok.
This trend involves storming Scientology buildings in an attempt to get as far inside as possible before being caught or detained by staff.
The first incident was recorded USA in early Maywith other Scientology buildings – incl. in england And Sydney – is then targeted.
Police are actively pursuing the other teens involved in the incident, Tayler said.
“I cannot emphasize enough that this type of behavior is completely unacceptable,” he said.
“This starts with people knowing what their children are doing at home.
“As a father, I can tell you that if my 16-year-old daughter had come in yesterday, it would have been a very different outcome for her. We need people to start having these conversations in their homes.”
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