Acting to preserve the system you are part of is the default human response when that system appears threatened, whether the system is religious or not.
“Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him….Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death...” Matt. 26:4 &59
Plotting, stealth, and false testimony are not new practices for religious leaders seeking to get rid of people whom they perceive as threats to their religious systems.
While today literal death is not the goal, it is tragically common for these strategies to be used in the church against whistleblowers, victims, and their supporters.