Photo by sfgate
Spoiler alert; it was oregano and cilantro.
Last week, a viral TikTok video surfaced that has us losing faith in humanity. The Redemption United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, kicked a woman out of their religious establishment after noticing a plastic bag, supposedly filled with weed.
To their surprise, the woman, Ashley Ontiveros, was carrying nothing more than a bag of cilantro and oregano. Great catch, guys. The Oklahoma-based church is involved in a program with the Department of Corrections that allows inmates to attend their services. Ontiveros’ sole reasons for being at the church were to visit her sister, who is currently incarcerated, and bring cilantro and oregano for soup.
A sister station called KOCO interviewed Ontiveros regarding the incident, but she refused to be on camera. In the interview, Ontiveros mentioned that she brought Menudoo with all the fixings, like onion, lime, cilantro, and oregano, in a plastic bag. Ontiveros said that church staff refused to open the bag and smell what was inside when she was kicked out.
In a statement released by the church, they said that the video being circulated around social media regarding the incident at Redemption Mission Penn Avenue in Oklahoma City depicts a person who was disgruntled after church staff didn’t let her give a bag of food “to a family member who is an inmate attending church services.”
In the interview with KOCO, Ontiveros said that she was planning to eat the Menudo with her sister at the church, which has happened before, so it was a huge surprise when church staff kicked her out. She followed that she was “traumatized” by the event and how it took place.
Another statement by the church said that family members, visitors, and guests are welcome to attend their services for inmates but are prohibited from giving food items to inmates “to take back to correctional facilities,” which wasn’t Ontiveros’ goal in the first place. But, the Department of Corrections confirmed to sister station KOCO that these are, in fact, the current regulations.
Ontiveros concluded in the interview that she and her sister will never attend the church after what happened, noting that it was “embarrassing” and the only opportunity to see her sister.
You can watch the viral video here.
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