Three women from the Texas polygamist sect that was raided by authorities April 3 put on a bizarre performance when they were interviewed by ABC News earlier this week. Now the superstrange video has made its way onto YouTube.
In the bizarre clip, the women — identified only as Nancy, Marie and Esther — answer questions in remarkably similar sing-song voices and speak almost in unison. Clad in matching dresses and looking like they just stepped out of a time machine set to 1880, the women project an eerie Star Trek-meets-Little House on the Prairie vibe.
They complain oh so meekly about the raid that left 416 children in state custody as authorities try to get to the bottom of what, exactly, was going on at the Yearning for Zion Ranch.
“We were taken without any explanation,” Esther says. “We were taken at gunpoint, and there’s just no papers served. It was just like we’re animals…. And our children were taken away.”
In the five-minute interview, the women defend their lifestyle, which is built on beliefs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They also claim that the allegations that triggered the raid are false, and bridle (quite politely) when the interviewer asks if they’ve seen underage girls being married on their compound.
“It’s not a compound,” says Marie, wearing an unbelievably strange smile. “It’s our ranch and it’s our home.”
It remains to be seen how this case will play out in court, but this interview offers a peek into what seems to be a completely alien world. Watch it if you dare.