A scattering of debris soon followed, prompting Piotrowski to issue his desperate plea. Lowering from the sky to engulf the horizon was a massive, billowing cone of clouds. The doppler radar inside Jeff’s vehicle indicated an extremely intense circulation just minutes from town, but one look to the southwest left no doubt. The murky clouds heaved curtains of rain and a spattering of hail as storm chaser Jeff Piotrowski pulled alongside a police cruiser near Seventh Street and Black Cat Road on the south side of Joplin, Missouri. The brilliant blue springtime skies had become a malevolent, roiling mass of charcoal grays and diffuse blue-greens. The sense of urgency, bordering on panic, was palpable. on Sunday to commemorate the one week anniversary of when the tornado struck the southwestern Missouri city.“Get the sirens going, get the sirens going, I’m telling you!” The town observed a moment of silence at 5:41 p.m. The man was briefly detained and then taken to the county border and sent off.Īs of Saturday evening, 142 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the EF-5 tornado with 200-mph winds that ripped through Joplin on May 22. Reports indicate that mace was used in the altercation, but it is unclear if police used it to control the crowd or if someone else had used it. Police officers intervened, however, and led him to safety. Authorities led the man to the protest zone that was prepared for Westboro, according to the Globe.īut after the man left the designated zone, members of the Westboro counter protest crowd chased him. The Topeka, Kan.-based group is not affiliated with any Baptist denomination and is condemned by Christian leaders as a cult and for teaching unorthodox views on predestination and God's wrath.Įven though Westboro did not show up, there was a single disturbance on Sunday when a man from northwest Arkansas began preaching and protesting outside of the set protest zone. Westboro Baptist Church, made up of family members of leader Fred Phelps, is notorious for protesting at funerals and declaring that disasters and deaths are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality. Stuckey learned about the counter protest through the Facebook page. If you want proof of his blessing, just look at the thousands of volunteers who came here to help." I want to tell that natural disasters don't mean God Joplin. to participate in the Joplin rally, to the Globe. "Joplin is where I grew up," said Jamie Stuckey, who came from Fort Scott, Kan. The grassroots Facebook page "Counter Protest Westboro Coming to Joplin" is liked by over 16,500 people. Instead of an anti-Joplin protest, thousands of supporters of the city came out in force on Sunday waving American flags and holding signs that read, "God Loves Joplin" and "We Support You Joplin."Ĭharlie Brown, who organized the Westboro counter protest through a Facebook page, said the rally had three themes: honor, respect, and remembrance, according to The Joplin Globe. In the group's press release, they also claim that Joplin was hit by a tornado as God's punishment for the sins of residents.īut when Sunday came, no Westboro members showed up even though Joplin Police Chief Lane Roberts had acknowledged on Friday that his department was in communication with Westboro and will give them a designated area to protest. The extremist Westboro group, known for picketing at funerals of military officers, had announced earlier that they would protest in Joplin, Mo., on Sunday against President Obama, who spoke at a memorial service for tornado victims. But thousands of Joplin supporters did show up and lined the streets armed with signs that declare, "God Loves Joplin," just in case. Westboro Baptist Church members did not show up on Sunday afternoon in Joplin as expected.
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