Video allegedly shows Scientologists blatantly ignoring social distancing rules

A video posted to a prominent ex-Scientologist’s Facebook page claims to show a throng of Scientologists exiting a passenger bus in the midst of lockdowns in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Mike Rinder, who is the former senior executive of the Church of Scientology International and the Sea Organization, shared the video which shows people the narrator says are Scientologists clearly ignoring social distancing rules, exiting the obviously packed bus. Rinder left the Church in 2007 after a falling out.

One post in a Facebook group says the video was filmed in Clearwater, Florida, which is home to the Church’s headquarters. Last week, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties directed residents to stay home except for essential activity like trips for groceries, medical needs and jobs deemed essential.

“Scientology seems to have no restrictions,” the woman behind the camera says as she films the passengers stream off the bus one after another. “Here they all come, here they all are.”

The video comes just ahead of a story published in the Tampa Bay Times this Monday that details how the Church apparently has its own idea of how it will combat the virus, regardless of what medical experts and government officials have recommended.

“Every parishioner staying in church retreats or going into a facility in Clearwater has their temperature taken before entering, spokesman Ben Shaw said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times,” the report stated. “All food consumed at the downtown headquarters, known as the Flag Land Base, is sanitized with a newly installed ozone water system, which Shaw said ‘kills any pathogen including viruses.'”

The Times went on to report that as of this Monday, members of the Sea Org, the church’s military-style workforce, “were still packing buses as they moved from living quarters to church buildings.”

Read the full report over at the Tampa Bay Times.

Watch the video below:

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.