On Sunday, members of the Westboro Baptist Church gathered at Central Junior High school in Moore, Oklahoma, to picket, but the towns people weren’t going to let that happen.
Together, hundreds of people gathered in the rain to stand against the hate group. Moore, Oklahoma, was devastated by a deadly tornado last year and the school has been housing Plaza Towers Elementary students since the tornado hit. On the Westboro Baptist Church website, the church explained that they believe the tornado was an example of “God’s wrath.”
Amanda Eccles said to KFOR-TV, “It’s just sickening. You know, it’s just innocent kids that lost lives and it’s sickening for them to even think that way.”
The Westboro Baptist Church said they had a permit to picket for half an hour starting at 2;00 p.m., they were there almost eight minutes before promptly getting into their cars and driving away as Moore residents starting crossing the picket lines.
Police were called to control the protestors and counter-protestors as the Westboro Baptist Church protestors rushed to leave. The church posted a Vine video after they left but failed to mention they left in a hurry.
“I thought it was hilarious. I mean I really did. We sat there and laughed the whole time,” Tina Johnson, a counter-protester, commented. “They were running, yeah.”
Dan Eccles told KFOR, “They shagged tail, got in them cars and was leaving in a hurry. Oh yeah, they was gone!”
According to KOCO local news, the police said that despite the high amount of tension, the crowd remained “relatively respectful.” There were no arrest and no one was taken into custody.
Image Credit: NPR