14 Cultists Deported by Israel Return to Denver
Fourteen members of a Christian doomsday cult, deported from Israel after being accused of plotting violence to bring about the apocalypse, returned to Denver on Saturday.
The three married couples, two single men and six children who were deported Friday were part of a larger group that disappeared from Colorado last fall.
The 14 Concerned Christians members were taken into custody last Sunday in Israel and ordered deported on suspicion of plotting violence to mark the millennium and hasten the Second Coming of Christ.
But the cult members avoided relatives who had waited for several hours at Denver International Airport and left family members crying at the gate.
Denver police spokesman John Wycoff said members of the cult feared for their safety and asked police to escort them off the plane and away from the airport.
“They made a conscious decision to depart by another route. They will contact you as soon as they can,” Wycoff told the relatives. He did not disclose where the 14, who do not face any criminal charges in the United States, were being taken.
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