The Sharp Family Singers?

[GenerationCedarchip]

I knew that there was plenty of overlap between various anti-government groups and some of the fundie groups. I wasn't familiar with this family, though.  Anyone familiar with the Sharp Family Singers?  I came across a very interesting article on 18 y.o. Victoria recently and from the content of the article, it certainly sounds like the family is involved in some corner of fundie or another. I've not come across them in reformed circles, but fundie is hardly a monolith. 

Here's the article: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article62911607.html

[SpoonfulOSugar]

10 minutes ago, GenerationCedarchip said:

I knew that there was plenty of overlap between various anti-government groups and some of the fundie groups. I wasn't familiar with this family, though.  Anyone familiar with the Sharp Family Singers?  I came across a very interesting article on 18 y.o. Victoria recently and from the content of the article, it certainly sounds like the family is involved in some corner of fundie or another. I've not come across them in reformed circles, but fundie is hardly a monolith. 

Here's the article: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article62911607.html

Quite a few tangential posts about them in this thread:

 

I don't know if they actually use the name "Sharp Family Singers" or if that has been coined by others.

If you dig a little, you can find the pdf files associated with her abuse charges.  It's pretty nasty reading.  You can also figure out who is who a bit more.

Biggest WTF for me - she's had multiple husbands.  I guess that part of patriarchy skipped her little corner of WTFundie.

[Howl]

That Kansas City article is interesting, particularly the take on Victoria Sharp being promoted as  a heroine of the militia/patriot movement a la Catniss/Hunger Games 'cause fighting against the Capitol.  My understanding is that Victoria spent her time during the road block and LaVoy Finicum incident terrified, screaming,  in hysterics and cowering on the floor of the truck and did NOT witness the shooting, which pretty much disqualifies her from being Catniss material.   However, she's young, attractive, musically talented, outspoken and has total buy-in to wingnut politics, so is very likely to have a Sarah Palin moment.  Very, very Interesting to me that she moved to Montana when she turned 18.   

Also, Odalis Sharp sounds marginally crazy, i.e.,  just sane enough to stay out of prison or a mental hospital. 

This article gives a little information on Odalis from people that know her.  

cjonline.com/news/2016-01-29/sharp-family-auburn-gains-national-attention-after-singing-during-oregon-protest

My take is that the minister and his wife are extremely tactful people.  

Quote

 

Hunter [a Baptist minister who has known the Sharps for about 12 years] said he has known Victoria Sharp for many years and described her as “very close” to her mother but “independent” and headstrong.

“She’s of age now,” Hunter said of Victoria. “She probably wanted to fly on her own.”

Hunter said while he has made it known that he hasn’t always agreed with Odalis on various issues, he believes she is a “fine lady.”

“She’s a vivacious, influential woman,” he said. “She commands attention everywhere she goes. She’s a highly moral woman who would die for her children.”

Hunter’s wife, Margie, is a childhood friend of Odalis Sharp. The two grew up together in Indiana and settled in Auburn in 2004. Margie Hunter said the last time she spoke with Odalis Sharp was earlier in January. She said she believed Sharp had returned to Auburn, but she hadn’t spoken with her friend as of Thursday.

“She can be reclusive,” she said. “She is very overprotective of her children. She’s always been that way.”

As a minister, Sterling Hunter said, he tried to counsel Odalis and her ex-husband, Tim Sharp, before they divorced two or three years ago and Tim Sharp moved to Colorado, he said.

“I couldn’t help them,” Hunter said, describing a troubled relationship. “They had some differences. Tim is a good man. It’s unfortunate they split up.”

 

 

[Howl]

@paganbaby posted a great find on the Armed Protesters thread and I'll share it here as well: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article75711232.html.  

The 5 children remaining at home waited until Odalis was in the shower, one son snagged the family guns and ran out of the house, stashing the guns at the end of the driveway.  A neighbor took the kids to the Sheriff's office.  Odalis has lost custody for the time being and hopefully permanently.   Odalis admits to using the "rod".   She is certifiable, but I hope she goes to jail and not an asylum.  Hopefully Kansas has laws against having unsecured firearms in the home and she'll be charged with that as well as child abuse.  Although her children ran away, she claims they were kidnapped by the state (of course). 

Apparently, Odalis also has a charge of battery against a police officer pending as well.  

[paganbaby]

Thanks @howl! I didn't know there was a thread for this family. It looks like the father may be a better parent, but it's a good thing the state's looking into him before sending the kids there.

I agree she should go to jail. Mental illness is not an excuse for this kind of behavior unless the perpetrator is so delusional she can't tell her kid from a cockroach.

[FloraKitty35]

Raw Story also has a story up about Odalis Sharp.  She's claiming her biblical right to beat her kids bloody.  

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/mom-who-took-kids-to-sing-for-oregon-militants-claims-biblical-right-to-beat-her-children-bloody/

[MarblesMom]

This is really disturbing.  How do people like this get to be parents?!

And thank goodness the kids got away.  They knew this was wrong.  Let's hope their experience in foster care (if that is where they ended up) is more humane.

[clueliss]

I see that's in Shawnee County (Topeka) and therefore in the same jurisdiction (I think) as the family that had the adopted/foster children that were being abused.

Topeka Capital Journal article (the star one is longer/better detailed)

http://cjonline.com/news/2016-05-03/odalis-sharp-topeka-area-singer-who-went-kids-oregon-standoff-arrested#

[AmazonGrace]

I find it interesting that the kids thought they should hide her guns before running away. She must be a right horror if they thought she'd shoot them rather than let them leave.

[Howl]

35 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

I find it interesting that the kids thought they should hide her guns before running away. She must be a right horror if they thought she'd shoot them rather than let them leave.

Yes, exactly.  I'd say these kids weren't just scared of her; they were terrified. 

[Gimme a Free RV]

The SHARP Family Singers?  What an unfortunate, intonation-predicting name...

[Howl]

Early on, when they were at the refuge, someone interviewed a pastor and his wife who knew Odalis. The wife mentioned that Odalis had always been "overprotective" of her children, which translates to me as obsessively controlling and accounts for the constant "discipline". 

No wonder some of the older kids have gotten the hell out of Dodge and the littles are fleeing as well. 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

On May 6, 2016 at 10:59 AM, AmazonGrace said:

I find it interesting that the kids thought they should hide her guns before running away. She must be a right horror if they thought she'd shoot them rather than let them leave.

I wondered if they might also be protecting any law enforcement officers who would end up at their house, or even their mother. If they knew that she might be the type to battle to the death with police officers, hiding the guns protected everybody.  Just me speculating.

[clueliss]

I'm bumping this one because the KC Star yesterday reported that Odalis Sharp lost custody of the kids.

 

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article92255522.html

Quote

Odalis Sharp’s children had detailed to the Shawnee County District Court judge how their mother had beaten them, yelled at them and called them names. They talked about how their siblings would scream at the pain and how their mother would say she was trying to “beat the fire” out of them. She’d make them put pumps of hand soap in their mouths to wash it out. She’d cut them off from the outside world, the kids said.

 

There are a couple of videos in the article.

[SpoonfulOSugar]

1 minute ago, clueliss said:

Odalis Sharp lost custody of the kids.

It's rare for me to say this, but thank whatever deities exist for that!

She epitomized the term, "incapable" to me.

I hadn't seen this on the boards talking about the Oregon takeover - I wonder what Victoria's up to these days?

[nana sew dear]

According to the article I read this morning, one of the older boys was concerned that there could be a shoot-out when authorities came to the house.  It seems this mom was concerned about "government over-reach" because she had something to hide.

[Howl]

Grateful, grateful, grateful that the authorities made the right decision and these children are now safe and also hoping the dad is able to have a situation where he can care for all of the children.  I had the impression he could be a good father, but then again, he married Odalis, so don't know what to think about that.  

The older kids obviously have some smarts; there was strategy involved in their escape (wait for the right moment, stash the guns out of her reach).   Possible scenario:  her mental illness (whatever it is) was intensifying;  the crazy amped up the  beatings to the point where the kids feared for their lives.  

Wonder what Odalis will do with her life now that she is the mom of zero kids and has to live alone with herself and her thoughts? 

MODS please note:  I'd like to see this thread taken out of the Politics category and put in the Quiverfull section.  This is a woman who has 10 kids (that counts as Quiverfull!) and believes she has the right to beat all of them bloody because God says so.  That is not a political issue -- it's a widespread fundie belief that is extensive enough to be categorized as institutional abuse. 

[SpoonfulOSugar]

I was trying to figure out if this was a permanent decision/the start of severing the ties.

It appears to be.  Odalis has 30 days to appeal.

I hope the children are able to be placed together in a healthy environment.

I snooped around - don't see any recent posts from Victoria . . . still nosy and curious.

[Howl]

Looks like the dad may be able to get custody 7 of the kids and have them live with him in Colorado.  Two or three of the kids are 18 or over.  Victoria Sharp, who got media coverage during the Malheur standoff road block incident, supports her father in his quest for custody and has moved to Colorado to live with him.  Although the kids are still in state custody, the father is hopeful custody will be granted in the next few weeks.  According to the Kansas City Star

Quote

The outspoken Kansas-raised teen who was dubbed the “Patriot Princess” after her involvement in an Oregon standoff earlier this year appeared on Monday at the Shawnee County Courthouse.

This court episode, however, involved a battle of a different kind.

Victoria Sharp was there to support her dad in his effort to gain sole custody of seven of his minor children after they lodged allegations of child abuse against their mother in April. At the conclusion of a brief closed-door hearing, the children remained in state custody. But Tim Sharp said he was hopeful that the children would soon be living with him in Colorado.

“I’ve jumped through nearly every hoop that the state has asked me jump through,” he said afterward.

“I think within a few weeks,” he said, “the children will be back home.”

Victoria Sharp, 19, told The Star she was thrilled at the thought of being reunited with her siblings. She said she had moved to the Denver area in June to live with her father.

“I love my siblings, and they did what they had to do,” she said. “We’re just hoping that this is put in the past and they can come home to Colorado with Dad and start a happy life again.”

http://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article97272587.html

Well, here's hoping the dad is not a proponent of physical punishment. 

Having a big sister on the scene will likely be stabilizing for the younger kids.  Who knows what lies ahead, but  Victoria wants to go to college but still thinks the Patriot movement should be a part of everybody's life.  

Odalis will have lots of time to reflect, and I have no idea how she'll support herself. 

[clueliss]

An update on Victoria Sharp from the KC Star.  

 

http://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article128921799.html

Quote

‘Patriot Princess’ Victoria Sharp still traumatized a year later by Oregon standoff shooting

1 of 3

“I want to see patriots who get up and make a difference, rather than rant on social media about how bad our country is, yet are not doing anything to make their own communities better,” Victoria Sharp said in an interview this week. She now lives in Colorado, where she manages a cafeteria. 2016 file photo by Allison Long along@kcstar.com

BY RICK MONTGOMERY

rmontgomery@kcstar.com

 

One year after authorities shot dead an armed militant during the occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, a former Kansas teen who drew national attention for having witnessed the killing says she wants to move on with her life.

Seen for a time as a young messenger for patriotism, Victoria Sharp, 19, told The Star that the so-called “patriot movement” has its problems.

“I want to see patriots who get up and make a difference, rather than rant on social media about how bad our country is, yet are not doing anything to make their own communities better,” she said.

In early 2016 Sharp, who then lived in Montana, joined seven of her siblings from Auburn, Kan. — the Sharp Family Singers — with their mother to perform gospel and patriotic music for ranchers who had taken over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in protest of federal control of the land.

 

Capitol Christian concert protests Oregon wildlife sanctuary shooting

 

On her way to a family performance, Sharp on Jan. 26 was seated in a pickup driven by Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, a member of the standoff, when he caromed through a law enforcement roadblock. Finicum got out of the truck and was shot in a snowbank.

Sharp, dubbed the “Patriot Princess,” spoke out on national news broadcasts, talk radio and in social media that Finicum had raised his hands and was “killed unjustly.” The Drudge Report turned her story viral. Some in the patriot movement heralded the teen as a truth-telling “Mockingjay,” heroine of the Hunger Games series.

But aerial footage of the shooting showed Finicum reaching for his coat pocket, where he had a loaded handgun, when authorities fired at him.

Sharp this week said she still thinks Finicum’s death was unjustified: “He had a huge heart. His death was a tragedy that I will never forget...

“I still believe in the message that the ranchers who went to Oregon were presenting to the public.”

In October a jury acquitted standoff leader Ammon Bundy and other occupiers who had been charged with illegal firearms possession and conspiracy to impede federal officers. An investigation also cleared the officers who shot at Finicum.

Sharp’s tumultuous year included her father’s custody fight for the younger Sharp Family Singers. A Shawnee County District Court hearing in May resulted in Sharp’s mother losing custody.

Now living in Colorado with father Tim Sharp and managing a cafeteria, Sharp said the events of last January still traumatize her. On a good night she’ll sleep four or five hours, she said. Just Wednesday while driving, she was involved in a car accident in which “I had a flashback to that truck,” she said. “I went back to that moment...

“The more I associate with that entire episode, the more my life can’t move forward,” she said, so she’s trying to put her brief notoriety behind her.

Tim Sharp said that while his children endured an experience in Oregon that youngsters shouldn’t go through, Victoria has made strides in putting the episode in perspective. “She is stronger,” he said.

Today she sees much of the patriot movement emboldening too many “law enforcement haters ... (who) say that anyone who supports law enforcement cannot be a patriot. That is simply wrong, and I will not associate myself with those kind of people.

“I want to see a ‘patriot movement’ that has its main focus on making a difference in their individual communities. That is what patriotism is about.”

 FACEBOOK

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article128921799.html#storylink=cpy

7

There is video at the link. 

 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

Thanks, @clueliss.  I'm sorry to hear she's still having trouble sleeping. I don't know if she has PTSD, but I wouldn't wish it on anyone. It might be interesting to hear from her again in 5 or 10 years, to hear how she's grown, but if she wants to be left alone I hope she gets that. I hope her brothers and sisters are doing better away from their mom.

[Howl]

@clueliss, Thank you for this update!

She's slowly shifting to a more moderate stance in her politics.  Perhaps her father's influence or probably just reading the general social media insanity that is the "Patriot" movement and realizing how crazy it is.  The law enforcement haters (the ones who really do want to shoot cops) are the craziest of the crazies of the Sov Cits.  

I'm assuming all the minor kids are now with the dad and Odalis is stewing in her own juices in Kansas.