Westboro Baptist Church Chased Out Of Moore, Okla., After Celebrating Tornado As Divine Retribution

The Westboro Baptist Church is notorious for protesting funerals in “God’s name,” but the people of Moore, Okla., were not going to let the group picket in their town after it said God sent a tornado to Moore last year as retribution. Residents chased the WBC away on Sunday when they showed up at Central Junior High School, KFOR.com in Oklahoma City reported.

As the group waved their trademark “God Hates Fags” signs, hundreds of people lined up across the street in a counter-protest. It’s almost been one year since Moore was devastated by a tornado that killed 24 people and injured 377 others. It ripped through Plaza Towers Elementary School, shattering the building and killing nine children. CJHS has housed the younger students since the disaster.

Instead of a seeing it as a tragedy, the WBC essentially celebrated the natural disaster as an example of "God's wrath." Faced with the furious reaction, WBC’s contingent didn’t stay long. In fact, they fled after eight minutes even though they had a permit to picket for half an hour beginning at 2 p.m., KFOR reported.

Moore residents crossed the picket lines and forced WBC members to run for their cars. Police intervened, but no one was arrested. KOCO news in Oklahoma City reported that police said despite the high tension, the crowd remained "relatively respectful."

Amanda Eccles told KFOR: “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 WBC posted a video to Vine after their hasty retreat. They wrote: “Crazy! We're picketing #Moore #OK & cops couldn’ contain the unlawful mob! They wanted to steal #merica #flag idols we were disrespecting!”

But the WBC failed to mention they were forced to run away. A video from a counter-protester shows what really happened.

"I thought it was hilarious. I mean I really did. We sat there and laughed the whole time,” Tina Johnson, a counter-protester, told KFOR: “They were running, yeah."

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