Who are 'God's Misfits'? As police investigate Oklahoma homicide, South Carolina pastor caught in crosshairs
The investigation into two women killed in the Oklahoma Panhandle has drawn attention to the four suspects' membership in "God's Misfits," an anti-government religious group, police say.
But a preacher with a ministry of the same name has been caught up in the case after news spread online of the organization mentioned in court documents.
A pastor in South Carolina, who goes by Preacher Squirrel, has run a website and YouTube channel with his wife called "God's Misfits" for several years, according to the ministry's website.
He's focused on sharing God's love, Squirrel told KJRH, and he didn't know anything about the case until strangers started sending him angry messages.
OSBI: Grandma admitted responsibility for deaths of two Kansas women in Oklahoma
On the God's Misfits Facebook page, Squirrel further clarified that he and his wife are not connected to groups in Oklahoma, and encouraged followers to pray for the victims' families for healing.
"We never had anything to do with what happened in Oklahoma, and we absolutely do not condone such behavior; It goes directly against God's Word," he posted on Facebook.
What do we know about God's Misfits in Oklahoma?
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has been investigating the deaths of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39. The women first went missing in the Oklahoma Panhandle on March 30, and since then, police have recovered their bodies and arrested four people on counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to murder.
The four charged - Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Tifany Machel Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44 - claimed to belong to an anti-government group called “God’s Misfits” that held regular meetings at members' homes, according to a probable cause affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Much about the group has remained a mystery, but social media posts by the suspects suggest they’ve been a part of the group since at least last year.
On Oct. 5, Cole Twombly posted to Facebook that he’d just left an “awesome prayer in the park” hosted by the “Misfits" in Keyes, Oklahoma.
What hate or extremist groups are in Oklahoma?
In 2022, the Southern Poverty Law Center tracked 13 hate and extremist groups in Oklahoma, including Moms for Liberty, Proud Boys and Patriot Front.
The Anti-Defamation League also tracks occurrences of hate, extremism, antisemitism and terrorism in their HEAT map.
Though incidents in the state overwhelmingly occur in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, two occurrences of white supremacist propaganda spread were noted in the area where the suspects lived. On March 24, 2023, and Aug. 14, 2023, the ADL reports that the white supremacist group Patriot Front distributed propaganda in Boise City, Oklahoma
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: God's Misfits: Oklahoma group draws negativity to South Carolina pastor
